


Climb Atop My Walls

by sunshineglow118



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers Family, BAMF Frigga, BAMF Phil Coulson, BAMF Tony Stark, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Crack, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Smut, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Loki Has Issues, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki's Kids, M/M, Mpreg, Odin's A+ Parenting, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Thor, Protective Tony Stark, Smut, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-19 13:07:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 49,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8209661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineglow118/pseuds/sunshineglow118
Summary: Tony Stark is the mother that everyone didn't ask for, but got anyway. And it all started with the end of the New York incident. Tony knew that there was something wrong with Loki; from the broken body he walked on Earth with to the lip sewing incident that he was now in.Now, Tony finds himself facing off a god who is more broken than ever, pregnant and is confused on his relationship with a certain green-eyed god. But he promised that he would protect Loki from everything.Tony Stark rarely knows when he is doing something good, but this, helping each person find their way home and to happiness, he knows he's good at that.





	1. Project Redemption and 47

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, people, I'm back. I don't know how I got here, all I know was that it was not my fault.  
> Nah, I'm excited to be sharing this with you. I am going to try to get it up as soon as possible. I know that there are no sex tags (my dirty friends), but I am 85% sure that there is going to be smut on that board soon. Yes, there will be mother henning Tony Stark, something that I love reading. Yes, I will be bashing Odin.  
> If I'm being honest, this is my first feels driven work that I have written and I would love to hear from you if it is good.  
> I hope that you enjoy. Glow bright my friends.

Tony knew something was different about Loki when they put him in chains and a gag. He voiced his opinion to Thor, but the god heard none of it. So Tony did what Tony did best:

Science.

Illegally, pulling the feed from SHEILD, Tony got to see every recorded encounter that the god had on Earth, from his grand entrance to when Thor blasted a Nordic design on the rooftop. Tony discovered that no humans were harmed in the Battle of New York. 

He asked Jarvis to tell him again.

“There were no casualties while fighting the Chitauri, sir.” Tony took a step back from his obsession while he processed the information.

“Give me a before, during and after scan of Loki, and if his magic can be scanned do that, too.” Tony walked over to where Dummy was coming to him with a smoothie. He took the drink, smelled it to be sure his child would not be poisoning him.

“Good boy,” He said, petting the bots arm. Dummy twirled his hand around at the praise, then wheeled himself back to the smoothie machine to likely make more.

“Scan complete,” Jarvis told him. Tony walked to one of his benches, and picked up his StarkPad.

“Show it to me, Jar.” Jarvis, without a witty remark, showed the scans of Loki’s body when he arrived.

“There are large lacerations on his spinal cord, chest and legs. Multiple fractured ribs, a sprained shoulder blade, mild internal bleeding and a bruised heart.” Jarvis diagnosed. “There are also signs of sleep torture, and extreme heat exposure.”

“And this is when he arrived?” Tony asked, leaning forward so he could see the vitals of the god when he came to Earth.

“Correct. When he was in SHEILD custody, it seems that he had healed himself of all wounds other than the heat exposure.”

“And when he was in STARK Tower?”

“The wounds were in the process of being healed,” Jarvis told him. Tony hummed.

“Okay,” Tony said. “Take all the current information that I have looked at and the information I have yet to and file it away in my personal, black-protocol server, named Redemption.” He told Jarvis. He picked up his smoothie, beginning to walk out of his lab. “And double encrypt it. I don’t want SHEILD getting their hands on this.”

“Should I continue to hack into them, sir?” Tony looked up at the ceiling with a smirk. “Alright sir.” Jarvis told him. Tony patted the wall twice as he walked out from his lab.  He took the third door on the left, leading him to where Bruce was hiding in his own lab.

“Science bro!” Tony said, running up to the curly haired man and giving him a hug worthy of Thor.

“you know,” Bruce said when Tony skipped to the other side of the table, whispering about science. “The file on you says nothing about your behavior.”

“Bruce, I’m hurt.” Tony said, putting a hand to his chest in mock pain, “I am your own, personal psych case study.”

“Not that kind of doctor.” Bruce muttered. Tony brought the straw to his lip, muttering even lower than his science friend,

“Neither am I.” Tony drained the last of the smoothie, tossed it in the bin and walked up to his science bro.

“So,” He said, flopping down on the spinning chair, “I got something to show you.”

“Why do I feel the need to be concerned about what you are going to show me?” Bruce asked, eyebrow raised. Tony waved his hand.

“Nothing dangerous. I promise.” Bruce rolled his eyes, but smirked. “So, ever since I’ve been rebuilding the Avengers tower, I’ve been working on projects for the whole team.” He tapped on the table. “And I just finished up yours.” He stood, smiling at his friend. “I want to show you.” He grabbed Bruce’s arm and pulled him to the west wall.

“This is a wall, Tony,” Bruce said.

“No faith in me,” Tony whined. He put his hand to the wall, then took Bruce’s and did the same. “Jarvis, activate Project 47.”

“Project 47 in motion, sir.” Jarvis spoke. Bruce watched as the wall illuminated in Stark Blue on the two of their hands. The wall shook a bit, then retracted into the ground revealing a massive, light blue room.

“You built me a secret door?” Bruce asked curiously. Tony skipped into the room, not answering his question until Bruce stepped into the room.

“This is a secret elevator.” Tony said. Bruce watched as the door lifted and the room began to move upward. “I’ve been thinking of this sort of thing for some time,” Tony said, tapping on his phone. “But I had no real reason for it until Agent showed up.”

The elevator stopped and the wall dropped down again. Bruce was speechless when he saw what was behind the door.

The room was massive. The walls were painted in a calming light blue color, different from the one the elevator was painted in. There was a huge bed that was about six feet off the ground, pillows that were about five feet wide and long, a massive blanket thrown on the bed. The floors were carpeted with the same mats that were in the gym.

“The walls can show you anything you want if you ask,” Tony said from his left. Bruce, stunned at what he was seeing turned to find that Tony was in large, hulk sized bathroom.

“You…you did this?” Bruce asked, still stunned by it all. Tony smiled as he walked over to his friend.

“Yup.” He said, clapping his hands together. “Not a prison.” He added quickly. “This is strictly for when you feel that you need to Hulk out or just want to be somewhere no one can find you.” He pointed to the ceiling. “It has its own, independent ventilation system so Clint won’t get in here.” He told the scientist. “and no gas could be dropped in here. You and I are the only ones that know about it.” He shrugged. “And the person who made the bed and stuff with it, but she was sworn under an oath of Pepper to not tell anyone.”

Bruce was speechless at the gesture of friendship, walked over to the bed and reached for the blanket, feeling the softness and elasticity that it held.

“Thank you,” He whispered.

“It was nothing,” Tony said quietly from behind him. Bruce turned and hugged him tightly, eyes betraying him with tears.

“It means everything.”

***

Three days later, Bruce asked if Tony would be willing to be in the room when he Hulked out. Tony agreed, practically running to the secret elevator that would lead to the Hulk Room as Bruce called it. Tony could tell that Bruce was nervous about becoming the Hulk for a reason that was not related to violence.

“Hey,” Tony said, seeing his anxiousness, “you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want too.”

“I’m worried I’ll kill you.” Bruce muttered when they stepped out of the elevator and into the room.

“Please,” Tony drawled. “That is unlikely seeing as he saved me from falling to death.”  Bruce shrugged off his jacket, liking it enough not to rip. “Oh,” Tony said, hopping away from the scientist to give him some room. “I get to see if the Hulk pants will work.”

“It will be embarrassing enough if they don’t.” Bruce told him. Bruce sighed as he tried to let go of control. He felt a hand on his shoulder, squeezing him on, telling him that everything would be okay. He sighed again, and let the control slip.

Tony backed up when he saw the change from the man to the Hulk. It didn’t take long for Bruce to let go of the control he had over his other half once Tony reassured him with no words. The Hulk pants stretched and held against all that the Hulk was.

The Hulk looked mildly confused at not being summoned to destroy things.

“Hey buddy.” Tony said, walking slowly to stand in front of the green person. “How you doing?” Tony flashed him a Stark smile, turning to show him the room. “This place is for you when you want to be out when it isn’t time to destroy things.” Tony said. He turned and watched the Hulk pick at the blanket, smoothing his hand over the material. Tony slowly walked up to where he hoped to make eye contact with the Hulk.

“Do you remember me?” He asked slowly. The Hulk looked down at him.

“Yes.” He growled. Tony nodded his head.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked.

“Tony stay.” The Hulk answered. Tony shrugged and began to walk away from the Hulk to observe him in the Hulk Habitat. _Much better name that Hulk Room. I’m branding it._ He thought with a smirk. “Tony stay.” He heard the Hulk say before being swept into a green hand.

Vertigo threw Tony, as the Hulk put him on the bed.

“Are we going to cuddle?” Tony asked happily as the Hulk climbed into the bed for his size. The Hulk said nothing as he put Tony in the middle of the bed, then curled his green frame around the small human. _This is not how I thought this morning would go._ Tony thought with a hum when the Hulk threw the blanket over the two of them.

“Tony sleep.” The Hulk said as he closed his massive eyes. Tony was not one to argue with the Hulk when he was so close. _What better way to observe than to be invested?_ Tony thought as he closed his eyes, accepting that he was not going anywhere for the rest of the Hulk nap.

Bruce woke three hours later, pushing the heavy blanket off of his frame and finding Tony resting his head against his stomach.

For the first time in a long time, Bruce didn’t feel the Hulk pulsing behind his head with anger and rage. He felt the Hulk, sure, but the Hulk was calmer when he was out, not demanding to destroy things. If anything, the Hulk was protective over Tony, somehow knowing that the mad scientist had helped the green monster.

“Thank you, Tony.” He said as he drifted off.

 


	2. Easy Now, You're Safe Here, I'll Protect You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki lands, cold, bleeding and fearful on Tony Stark's lab floor. Tony rushes to his aid, calls Bruce and assists a broken god, promising that nothing bad will happen to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings, friends. I hope that this day finds you well. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, even if it is a little dark. Thank you for reading.

“Try and scream, runt.” The words were cursed at him as the blade cut deeper into his ribs in the Asgardian prison. Loki cried out in pain, the thread keeping his lips together tightening as the guard stabbed him in the shoulder.

 _Please,_ He begged his thoughts, _Please, Norns, not the child. Please!_ His thoughts shouted as the guard traced the blade over his stomach, not yet showing the life that was growing from one of the guards past torture.

Loki had been storing his magic for one teleportation, knowing that if he messed it up, the life inside his womb would be lost forever. He tried to get out before the real torture started, before his second rape, but he failed.

Now he had a reason to keep fighting.

All he needed was a distraction. Something that would make the guard pause from his constant torture since the last one who touched him.

 _Please, Norns,_ he begged. _I’ll do anything._ He wept when the guard drew a line up his spine, happy he did not cut into his stomach.

“I’ll take you just like the last one did.” The guard whispered into Loki’s ear. Loki’s eyes widened as a new wave of fear washed over him when the guard stepped closer.

“ENOUGH!” A thunderous voice shouted from the door of the dark prison he was in. _Brother._ Loki thought. _Now!_ A voice shouted at him. Loki gathered his magic, curled it around his frame and let it flow out of his core to somewhere that was far away from where he currently was.

***

Tony sipped on his scotch as another hour rolled by. He was not drunk, that would be breaking his and Bruce’s contract. The two of them saw how dangerous the other’s habits were. Tony knew it was dangerous to Bruce to keep the Hulk in check, making the Hulk violent whenever he was needed and Bruce saw that Tony needed to stop getting drunk when he was faced with emotions.

Tony really wanted to get drunk now. He and Pepper had broken it off for the last time three nights ago. Bruce pulled Tony away from a relapse with the bottle to go to the renamed Hulk Habitat for thirty-six hours. Tony had been watched closely by both the Hulk and Bruce during his relapse potential period.

Tony promised Bruce that he would not get drunk in his lab. But how he wanted too.

Tony grabbed the bottle, knowing that Bruce and Jarvis were watching his actions. He put down the glass and brought the bottle to his lips, but not drinking from it.

“It’s not worth losing another.” He said sadly. He sighed as he walked to the sink and dumped the scotch down the drain. “There goes money, right down the drain.” He said. Tony threw the bottle in the trash, hearing a loud shatter signaling that he missed. He watched Dummy and U roll from their charging station to clean up the mess. “No.” He told them sadly. “This is daddy’s mess. I have to clean it up.” He told them, taking the broom and dust pan that they had. Tony walked to the mess he made and began sweeping up the glass of the expensive bottle he threw. When he got the glass into a pile, he heard another crash coming from his lab.

“Intruder, sir,” Jarvis said. Tony ran over to where the crash came from, reaching his hands out for his gauntlets to come to his aid. When he turned the corner, he saw a pool of blood that was quickly widening.

“Holy shit,” Tony said, as the gauntlet attached to his arm. He threw the gauntlet and ran over to the bleeding figure.

“Should I alert the Avengers?” Jarvis asked when Tony knelt down, freezing when he saw the black hair that was Loki’s.

“No.” He said, standing so he could walk over to the door where he kept his medical bag. “Call Bruce and tell him to prepare the medical bay for Loki. Show him project Redemption as he gets there.”

“Done sir, Doctor Banner has been notified and is reviewing the information now.” Tony grabbed the orange bag and rushed back to where Loki was struggling to get up. Tony could see a large slash wound traveling up his bare back, squirting blood as he moved.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Tony said quietly. “I’m going to help you Loki,” Tony said as he walked toward the bleeding god. Tony knelt down, knees wet with blood as he pulled out a large bandage. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He told the shaking god. “This is a bandage that is going to help stop the bleeding.” He said from behind the god. “It is going to administer a mild pain reliever into the skin when it attaches. It will contract to the wound to try and seal it together, stopping the bleeding, do you understand?” Tony said as he pulled the sticky bandage from the casing. “Do you understand, Loki?” Tony asked again.

Tony slid the bandage on when the pool of blood widened so his jeans were soaked mid-calf and getting closer to the ankle. Loki screamed when the bandage tightened on his back, but it sounded muffled.

“Easy,” He said, smoothing it up his spine so it could hold together his flesh. Tony was shaking when he saw the bone in the gods back. He could see all the bones in the green eyed god's body from starvation, but the wound he was helping keep together, he could see the bone from how deep the slash was. “We are going to help you, Loki,” Tony muttered when he felt like vomiting. “I know you didn’t lead the Chitauri to Earth of a free mind. He said when he finished putting the bandage on his spine.

Tony shuffled around to the front of the god and cursed when he saw the gods face.

Loki’s lips had a tight, leather cord keeping them shut. The wound looked infected from the green and yellow color that tinged the small wounds that held his lips together. The god looked at him, eyes scared beyond belief and shaking from everything he must have dealt with.

“I’m going to help you, Loki,” Tony said when he got his voice back. “Let’s get your lips free now,” Tony said. He looked around the room, wondering how he would get the god to the medical bay without killing the god or causing him further pain.

“I need to get you up so I can get you to the medical bay so we can take a look at your back.” He told the god, running a hand through the god’s limp hair. “I promise I am going to see you healthy and snarky again,” Tony said to him, trying to keep the god grounded to him instead of thinking of the torture he went through.

Tony stood and walked over to his one bench that had wheels. Dummy and U pushed it around by accident so often that Tony had permeant bruises on his shins from when he stumbled into it. He was going to give it away, but now he was glad he kept the damn thing.

He pushed the bench over to Loki, lining it up towards his body. Going to the medical bag, he pulled the shock blanket free and draped it over the edge of the bench. Tony grimaced at the amount of blood the god was putting out. That amount of blood loss would kill a human. Loki whimpered in pain when Tony got behind him.

“It’s going to hurt, getting you on the bench and off it to a hospital bed, but I am sure you do not want to be drugged right now,” Tony told him, trying to keep his voice steady. “I am not going to take away your control when it has been stolen from you before.” He said. “I am going to pick you up now,” Tony warned. With one heave, he lifted the god and placed him on the bench.

Loki screamed again, Tony watching in horror as the leather tightened to the god’s mouth, pus and blood spewing from the wound. Tony launched himself for the bag, grabbing the scissors, alcohol, and other bandages.

“I am not going to hurt you,” Tony said as he lowered the scissors to the wound, willing his hand to not shake as he cut the first cord. “If we are looking on the feeble bright side, the wound is still bleeding.” He said, cutting another thread, not sure if he was reassuring himself or the god. “This means that getting the damn thread out will be easier.” He cut another three. He shushed the god when he saw that he was crying.

“I promise you will be okay, Loki.” He said, cutting the final thread. “No one is going to harm you again. No one will take you from this place. You will be free from everyone who hurt you.” He babbled as he began to pull the threads from his lips. “I will protect you from everyone who tries to take you.” He muttered as he dropped the threads and the puss oozed from the wounds. “I have evidence against you harming those during the New York battle. SHEILD will not take you. You’re safe here.”

Loki was openly crying as Tony removed the last of the threads and cleaned the infected wounds to the best of his ability.

“Easy there,” He said. Tony pulled the alcohol and put it on some of the bandages. “this will sting, but it is to keep the wounds from getting further infected.” He told the god. He wiped off the blood and puss that was oozing from the wound. Loki winced in pain as the alcohol set into his wounds.

“Dummy, get me some water,” Tony said, reapplying the alcohol. Tony stroked the god’s hair with one hand as he caused the god pain. He looked down, seeing that the bleeding from the god’s back had slowed, but not stopped.

“Fuck, I’m an idiot.” He said when he noticed Loki shivering from shock and the cold. He pulled the edge of the blanket and draped it over his body.

“What’s Bruce’s status?” Tony asked when Dummy came over with a glass of water and U a straw. He patted both bots in thanks and lifted Loki’s head carefully. “Drink.” He whispered.

“Doctor Banner is ready for Loki, sir.” Loki stiffened at the voice, Tony continued stroking his hair through Jarvis’ speech. “He has been notified of Loki’s current condition and is ready to assist him. He reviewed Project Redemption and is willing to help him at all costs.” Jarvis paused. “He would also like me to relay that he apologizes for the last time he and the Hulk met.” Loki huffed, a pained smile gracing his lips.

“There you go, Loki,” Tony said with a smile. He held the glass of water to the god, prompting him to drink. The god went stiff, eyeing the liquid with distrust. Tony nodded and drank from the glass. Loki accepted the water when it was offered to him a second time. “I know you probably want food, but if we need to put you under for surgery, you could die if you eat,” Tony said when Loki drained the glass.

“Easy now,” Tony said when Loki tried to get up, blood widening on the floor. “I’m going to help you, Loki,” Tony said, walking to the god so he would lay back down. “Nothing is going to hurt you anymore, I promise,” Tony said. He crouched and began to push the bench out from his lab and to the elevator.

“Jarvis, lock down Avengers tower. I want no one to come in. No calls, no notifications, no Pepper nagging me about stupid meetings until further notice. Make it look like no one is in here. Build up all security. Run a scan of the entire building and wipe out any bugs in the system. Any kink that you find, even if it is a misplaced fingerprint, I want to know about.”

“Yes, sir,” Jarvis answered when he boarded the elevator, it closing and moving to the Medical Bay without being prompted.

“There are two bugs from a virus from a downloaded Pac-Man game and a fingerprint that traces back to a local pizza delivery boy. The boy has no criminal history and not likely to be harming anyone, sir.”

“Good,” Tony said, elevator opening and Bruce rushing towards them. Loki hissed in pain, flinching at the Doctor.

“Breathe, Loki. I’m here to help you.” He said. Tony pushed him towards where Bruce was leading them. “Can you tell me about your injuries? If you can’t you don’t have to, we can figure out with a basic scan and proceed from there?” He asked. Tony pushed the bench towards the hospital bed and caught a pair of purple doctors’ gloves when Bruce threw them to him.

Loki hissed in pain when he opened his mouth, closing it and looking like he had given up.

“Hey, remember, I’m going to see you through this,” Tony said to him. Loki looked up at him, eyes so full of mistrust and pain, that Tony grew angry at the ones that did this to him.

“Would you like to type out your message?” Bruce said, walking to him with a StarkPad. Loki nodded carefully, trying not to agitate the bandage. “Let’s get him on the bed first,” Bruce said. Tony nodded, picking up Loki’s front while Bruce took his legs. Loki whined again but relaxed when he was put on the more comfortable bed. Tony propped him up and handed Loki the StarkPad.

Loki slowly typed out his message, each movement causing him pain. He looked back at Tony when he was finished. Tony took the pad and read JUST DON’T HURT HER. Looking questionably at the god, Tony felt a story of old Norse Mythology poke the back of his head.

“Bruce, he’s pregnant.” Tony looked back at Loki, smiling gently. “We will see it you are both safe.” He told Loki. Loki’s eyes shined with tears for a second time as he put his head back and exhaustion took him over.

“What?” Bruce asked. “Jarvis, run a scan,” Bruce ordered, walking over to Loki and pulling the shock blanket off of him. “Tony,” Bruce said. Tony away from holding the god's hand, something he didn’t know he was doing and looked at the StarkPad.

The diagnostic was horrible.

“He was raped,” Bruce said.

“How do we heal him?” Tony asked. Bruce paced around the room, looking to the god then the StarkPad.

“I think his magic will heal him once he is healthier.” Bruce finally said, walking to the refrigerator. “We can’t give him morphine because of the baby, but we can give him fluids and blood to help him along.” He pulled out a bag of saline solution and a bag of O blood with Tony’s name written on it. “The baby will need lots of nutrients so I am going to make him a protein, nutrient paste to feed to him so he doesn’t get sick from eating too quickly.”

Bruce hooked up the bags to a metal stand and put the needle into Loki’s forearm. The saline went first, Bruce watching as it dropped down and into his arm. He took the blood, hooked it up and put another needle into Loki.

“It is likely he will be in a small coma as he heals from the stress,” Bruce said, walking around Loki and Tony to pull out some vials. “According to the scans, he is early in his pregnancy and the rape wounds have already healed. The next wound that will heal will be his spine.” Bruce carefully turned Loki so he could look at the gash wound. “You did a good job with this,” Bruce said sorrowfully.

He walked over to his lips and cleaned them again. “There is nothing more that we can do,” Bruce said, sitting down on the bed and looking at the god. “Do we alert the Avengers?” he asked, looking at Tony. “You certainly have proof of his innocence.” Tony stroked his beard, then rubbed his hand down his face.

“I’ll call them now.” He said, pulling out his phone. “And a pizza, lots and lots of pizza.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it. your feedback is appreciated. As I stated before, this is my first feels related work and I appreciated any and all comments/criticism. That is not to say that you cannot comment. I love hearing from all of you.


	3. The Negotiation of a Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers gathered at the table, pizza between them and ready to discuss if Loki is going to be staying. Not that it was going to be much of a discussion to Tony.

Tony called the Avengers privately.

Steve, Natasha, and Clint all stood in the debriefing room, Bruce and Tony on the other side of the table.

“What’s wrong?” Clint asked when Tony did not greet them with sarcasm or a smile.

“Who do we need to kill?” Natasha asked. Tony and Bruce both smiled sadly.

“Clint,” Bruce spoke slowly, “how much did you see into Loki’s mind when you were under control.” Clint stiffened at the question, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

“I could catch glimpses of screaming, but not much more than that,” Bruce nodded. Tony sighed and pulled up Project Redemption.

“Please read over the information and come to me with any and all concerns,” he said. Tony stood up and walked to the door to be stopped by Steve Rogers.

“What is this?” He said, holding the virtual file. Tony sighed, looking at the Captain with tired eyes.

“Please Captain,” he almost begged. “I’m exhausted.” He patted his arm. “you’ll understand, I’m sure.” He said patting is arm a second time as he slipped from the door.

Tony knew the spy twins would be following him. He put his hand to one of the walls, it flashing blue as a secret door popped open. While Clint often snuck around places in vents, Tony did so between walls. He did this often when he wanted to get places in the abandoned Stark Manor, but didn’t want to be caught by his drunk father. He pushed away from the thoughts as he walked through the Labyrinth of Avengers Tower, a Labyrinth only he knew of.

He pushed open the wall and walked into Loki’s Medical Room.

Tony sighed at the state of the god, bedridden and healing. It had only been a few hours since Loki arrived, and he was looking better than he was earlier. His face seemed relaxed from the small coma he put himself into so he could restore his magic. Walking up to the god, he took his hand and whispered,

“I am going to protect you and your baby, Loki. I promise you that.” He looked towards Loki’s belly, where the tiny child would be growing and eventually show. “I’m Tony Stark.” He introduced. “I feel like an idiot, but I am going to blame sleep deprivation for this, so, hey.” He said pathetically. He sighed sadly.

“Your mommy is going to great lengths to keep you safe, you know.” He told the baby. “Jarvis, pull up a scan on Loki’s child.” A blue shimmer swept Loki’s womb area, Tony, too tired to think about how the birthing process would work when he picked up a StarkPad. He looked at the ultrasound and laughed.

“You kinda look like a blueberry.” He said to the fetus. Tony squeezed Loki’s hand, looking at the god. “I’ll keep your little blueberry safe.” He promised. Tony stood and walked to the wall with the hidden door. He pushed it open and walked out of the room, knowing Jarvis would tell him if anything had changed.

Tony walked away from the Medical Room and climbed into a board room, then freely walked to the elevator.

“Where did you come from?” Bruce asked when they both boarded the elevator. Tony smiled,

“You think your lab is the only secret door I made?” Tony gave a tired laugh when Jarvis dropped him off at his floor.

“You’ll be okay tonight?” Bruce asked, Tony knowing he was talking about Tony’s breakup with Pepper.

“I’ve got bigger things on my mind than the woman.” Was all he said as he made his way to his shower. Tony stripped from his clothing, tossing them in the trashcan, ignoring the blood that was covering the clothing.

Tony usually thought of concepts, equations, and meetings that he had to attend to when he was in the shower, but now, his mind was blank because the image of a bleeding Loki was stuck in his head.

“Jarvis, call in some pizza for the Avengers,” Tony said while he washed his hair. He finished in the shower faster than he usually would and walked down to the common Avengers floor.

Clint, Natasha, and Steve were sitting around in the furniture, all having their thinking faces on.

“So where is he?” Clint asked. Tony sighed as he went to the refrigerator.  

“In one of the Medical Bay rooms.” He replied, surprised at how tired he sounded. Tony closed the fridge, not sure why he went in there in the first place. “Is this going to be an issue?” If it was any other day, his tone would be that of annoyance.

Looking at the three of them, he saw that Natasha had on her ‘thinking’ face. Clint had on one of contemplation and Steve just looked like a kicked puppy.

“Sir,” Jarvis interrupted. “The pizza has arrived.”

“Where do you get pizza at,” Steve looked at the clock on the oven, “2:30 in the morning?” Tony huffed a laugh as he walked to the elevator.

“This is still New York.” He got in the elevator, looking at the three of them, he said, “Please have an answer for me.” Tony took the elevator down, handed the boy with the pizza enough money to cover everything and took the elevator back up.

Setting the food down on the counter, he grinned when Clint jumped for one of the boxes and pulling out a slice immediately.

“Use a plate, you animal.” He said, handing a paper to each of them.

“Thanks, mom.” He muttered, but still taking the plate. Jarvis must have summoned Bruce, because he walked down, clothed in a loose shirt and pants. He took the plate that Tony offered to him without a word and searched for the box with the vegetarian pizza.

The five of them carted their food and sat down at the main table, silently eating. Tony refused to think of the situation as awkward or he was too tired to.

“I don’t feel that it is going to be a problem,” Clint said when he got up to grab another slice. Tony nodded his head to the marksman as he returned to his chair.

“I think that we should contact SHIELD,” Natasha said. Tony rolled his eyes and allowed Bruce, knowing he was going to have something to say about that, take that argument.

“So that SHIELD can experiment on him? Torture him further?” He asked hotly towards the spy.

“If you think I’m going to let SHIELD take him,” Tony said between bites, “you’re wrong.”

“Why do you suddenly care?” Steve asked, still not touching his food other than to put it on his plate. Tony chuckled sadly, inhaling slowly.

“Because I remember being in a similar situation.”

Steve looked down at his food, not needing to ask any more questions.

“Do you know if Thor knows his brother escaped?” Natasha asked. Tony and Bruce both shook their heads.

“If you looked at the file, you could see that he didn’t really have the ability to say much,” Tony told her. Natasha gave him a tight smile at his remark.

“I say he says,” Steve said, finally picking up his food like he was waiting to tell them before he allowed himself to eat anything. Tony took a bite of his food, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Clint and Bruce were looking at Natasha.

“I’m not saying I trust him,” Natasha said. Clint pushed her to the side, gently.

“You trust a total of four people,” Clint said to her.

“Then it’s decided,” Bruce said, standing. “Loki stays and gets the attention he needs; SHIELD stays out of this business for now.”

“They are going to find out,” Natasha said, biting into her food. Tony scoffed as he tossed his paper plate onto the table top.

“I’ll just show them what I showed you.” He told the spy. Tony stretched, groaning as he did to then get out of his seat. “Alright, I’m beat. Peace.” He said, throwing up the peace sign and walking to his room.

When he got out of earshot, he said,

“If Loki does anything I want to know regardless of my state.” Tony threw himself on the bed, turning so he could get under the sheets.

“Of course, sir,” The AI replied to him. Tony sighed deeply, closing his eyes and tossing the Pepper scented pillow away from him.

“Until tomorrow, Jarvis,” Tony said, curling to his side, away from Pepper’s bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! Your comments, kudos and attention are always making me happy.


	4. Come Together

Tony stumbled out of bed at nine in the morning to Jarvis telling him that it was another sunny day, the weather was good, crime was down due to a new hero who put on a Spider Costume, and Loki was still in a coma. Tony stretched his arms wide as he put on a dress shirt and a pair of dress pants for the business meeting he would have to attend at one.

Tony walked onto the Avengers common floor to Steve cooking pancakes, bacon, and breakfast potatoes.

“Thanks,” Tony said, grabbing a plate.

“Sleep well?” Steve asked, serving Tony a portion of each food when Tony went to fill his coffee mug.

“I got six hours if that is what you are asking.” He told the super soldier. “What about you, Cap? Get enough super soldier sheep?”

“I don’t need to sleep as long as you,” He muttered. Tony hummed into his coffee.

“I don’t think that’s entirely true,” He said when he took a seat in front of the meal Steve made for him. “I think that you don’t get as much sleep as you need,”

“I got enough of it when I went under,” Steve said, flipping the pancakes over on the griddle.

“Then you got rid of your sleep debt,” Tony said. Steve raised an eyebrow of confusion. “The body needs a certain amount of sleep. A person neglects to get a full night’s rest, their body catalogs it and tries to make up for lost hours,”

“Sounds like you know a thing or two about sleep debt,” Steve told him. Tony raised his coffee mug as his answer. Tony ate in silence, Steve cooking in it until Clint came in with a crash from the vents above the couch.

“You put the couch there for me?” Clint asked Tony when he rolled onto the floor and rushed to where Steve was putting a surplus of food.

“I figured it would be the vent you would likely fall out of,” Tony smirked as Clint made a happy noise at all the food that was on display for him to eat.

“How is our resident evil genius?” Natasha asked, always trying to scare Tony from behind when he sipped his coffee, even when she was Pepper’s assistant.

“I’m good,” Tony said, “I had a full six hours of sleep,” he stated, getting up from his chair and putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

“I wasn’t talking about you,” Natasha said, putting a small amount of food on her plate.

“Loki may be a genius, but it is clear that he is not evil,” Tony said.

“He could be tricking you,”

“You could be doing the same,” Tony said to her, holding her steel gaze.

“Are we going to be able to see him?” Clint asked through the food he shoved in his mouth.

“If you want. I doubt his condition has changed since Jarvis has told me nothing so far.”

“Indeed, sir,” Jarvis said from above them. “Mr. Loki’s health has not deteriorated since he has received treatment.”

“How are his wounds?” Tony asked, pulling out his phone and deleting pointless emails that should be in a SPAM folder.

“Mr. Loki’s condition has improved,” Jarvis said. “The wound that cut his spinal cord is seventy-three percent healed, his lip infections have become improved twenty-five percent since the blood and fluid transfusion and his child seems to be growing at a rather alarming rate.”

“His child?” Natasha asked while Clint and Steve shouted the question. Tony tightened his jaw at Loki’s wounds still being as bad as they were.

“Loki’s pregnant?” Clint shouted again, to then cough as he choked on his food. Tony walked up behind him, clapping the bird on the back so he would stop choking.

“Yes, he is pregnant,” Tony said when Clint stopped coughing. “Early in the pregnancy when I found him in my lab, but it seems that since he has been getting healthier, the baby is growing at what it should be.”

“How is that possible?” Steve asked slowly, cursing in Steve appropriate language when he noticed that a pancake was starting to burn.

“He was raped,” Tony hissed in anger. “We also don’t know about his species reproductive system.” Tony walked to the coffee pot and poured another mug. “Plus, he’s adopted, according to Thor. And, he has had other children.”

“So you are saying that there is going to be a Mini-Loki here in nine months?” Clint squeaked?

“If he has a regular, human, gestation period, then yes,” Tony said with a shrug. “But I doubt that it will take nine months. Jarvis?” Tony asked, looking at the ceiling, “how long do you think the baby will be inside Loki?” Jarvis was silent for a moment.

“My current estimate is for another five months, sir, seeing as he looks to be about two months along.”

“Thank you, Jarvis.” Tony raised his glass to the AI as he began walking towards the elevator that would lead to the god.

“Where are you off to?” Natasha asked. Tony held the door to the elevator.

“Going to see Loki,” He sipped his coffee as Steve and Clint made their way over. “Coming?” He asked with a smirk, knowing that she would. Natasha would have grumbled if she was not a well-trained spy as she walked into the elevator.

Jarvis dropped the four of them off, Tony leading them to the room Loki was in. He smiled when he saw Bruce in with Loki, replacing his nutrient bag.

“Morning,” Tony said, raising his mug to the fellow scientist. Bruce gave him a tired smile, then waved to the others.

“His wounds are looking better this morning,” Bruce rattled off, moving to the trash can to throw away the used bag. “I’m still not happy with the state of the infection in his lips, but they’ll heal. I think his magic is healing his spine first, not that I can complain.” He said to Tony. Tony nodded and looked at the larger stomach.

Loki’s stomach was still relatively flat, but it was rounder than it had been last night.

“The baby is healthy,” Bruce said, picking up an ultrasound photo.

“Look at Blueberry, doing his baby thing,” Tony said to the picture.

“You gave it a name?” Bruce asked, looking skeptical.

“Once you name it, you can’t go back.” Tony shrugged as he walked over to carefully open Loki’s left eye, seeing that there was still some blue around it. He paused, standing stiffly.

“He’s still being controlled,” Tony said to them. He watched as the other Avengers stiffened.

“What can we do?” Natasha asked. “I can beat him over the head.”

“It took the Hulk to beat the control out of him the last time,” Bruce growled at her. “I doubt it would be good for him anyway.

“What about the reactor?” Steve asked, looking at Tony, “You said that he could not control you because of it, maybe it will pull the control out of his mind if he gets one.”

“You do realize you just asked Tony to _cuddle_ with _Loki.”_ Clint scoffed nervously. Tony shrugged.

“I got a spare.” He said, ignoring Bruce’s of course. “I could give it.” Tony drank the remainder of his coffee as he walked out of the Medical Bay, into the elevator and to his lab. He put in his code to the false wall, knowing that Jarvis would not allow anyone to know where it was hidden, and returned to the Medical Bay.

He hesitated when he returned to Loki, knowing that if he failed, the person controlling Loki, the same person that lead the Chitauri to Earth, could have a valuable piece of technology.

“What the hell,” Tony muttered as he placed the reactor against Loki’s temple. The five of them waited, all holding their breath, for Loki to do something.

Loki’s eyes opened and the god smiled darkly. Natasha pointed her gun at Loki as Bruce stepped in front of her.

“So, you’re the human that destroyed my army.” A deeper voice spoke through Loki. Loki coughed as the voice spoke through him. His eyes were Tesseract Blue in some parts and green in others. “I’m going to come back.”

“I doubt you’ll win.” Tony snarled at the person controlling him. Tony reached for the reactor and pressed it harder against Loki’s skull. The person possessing Loki roared in anger, unable to move through the god’s body.

“You think you can stop my army?” Loki’s Master snarled.

“Who’s to say we can’t do it again,” Tony growled.

“Have your broken god,” The voice told him. “He is of no use to me anymore.” The voice whispered. Loki’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, the god’s body going lax as the last of the blue left his eyes.

“Well,” Tony said, standing with a smile, “That was a thing,” He readjusted the god and the reactor to Loki’s head, keeping the reactor in place to further dispel anything that was inside him.

“We need to tell SHIELD,” Natasha said.

“I agree,” Steve added. Tony sighed, rubbing his brow, knowing that he didn’t have much of a choice.

“We need to find Thor first,” Tony said. “Fury won’t like not having all the information we could get from the two of them.”

“How do you know he will wake up?” Natasha said with a clenched jaw.

“I have a feeling that now, since the voice is out of his head, he will wake up soon.”

“It is likely that since the trauma is gone, he will heal even faster,” Bruce added. “We need to get all the information together before we go to Fury,” Bruce said, nodding his head. “We need to get in touch with Thor,”

“You think that stalker guy is still watching?” Clint asked.

“The eyes of all eyes, the person that keeps me paranoid?” Tony said sarcastically. “I wouldn’t doubt it. But I bet Loki cast a protection spell around him to keep Heimdal from finding him.”

“We’re the Avengers,” Clint said, “We defeated the Chitauri, I bet that if we shouted loud enough, he would hear.”

“That’s your plan?” Steve asked, “Yell at the sky and hope a god will hear you?”

“Yup,” Clint said proudly.

“It’s worth a shot at this rate,” Bruce added with a shrug.

“The media is going to have a field day,” Tony muttered as the others walked out of the room Loki was in. Tony sighed, squeezing Loki’s hand. “Hang in there.” He squeezed it for a second time, then walked out of the room and made his way to the rooftop where Clint was already shouting for Heimdal.

Natasha, Steve, and Bruce looked like they would rather not be there as Clint made a fool out of himself.

“Come on, you bastard, Thor is looking for him,” Tony muttered to the ground. “I know it.” Clint stopped shouting when he realized that nothing was working.

“Worth a shot,” Steve said, patting Clint on the back. Tony watched from the corner of his eye as the four of them began to walk towards the door.

“Don’t be a dick.” He said a little louder than the first time.

Tony felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as the clouds began to darken. Tony smiled when a bright light careened towards the ground and shone brightly on his helicopter landing pad. When the light faded, Thor in all his Asgardian glory looked stuck between rage and depression.

“I’m sorry, shield brothers and sister, but I am in search for-“

“Loki?” Tony interrupted. He held his hand until it was three inches taller than the blond. “About yay high, dark hair, looked like he was an inch away from death.”

“And pregnant!” Clint shouted from behind the two of them. Tony turned and gave Clint a murder face before turning back to the god.

“Yeah. He’s here.” Thor rushed forward to where the door was, but Tony put a hand on his chest. “You were the one that took him to Asgard. I picked up the pieces when he came back here.” Tony snarled at the god, feeling two days of anger finally having an outlet. “Who is to say that you don’t take him right back.”

“You dare stand in my way.” Thor took a step back, raising his hammer.

“Yeah,” Tony growled, “Seeing as I found him half dead and possessed by an evil overlord when he came back from his field trip with you, yeah, I’m going to stand in your way.” Tony watched as Thor hesitated from beating Tony down, then lowered his hammer with a sad sigh.

“I found them torturing him,” Thor said quietly. “I wasn’t allowed to be at his hearing. I broke many doors trying to vouch for my brother.” Thor explained. “By the time I got in, he was gone. I didn’t know where they took him; he was not in the main prison.”

“Did you search for him?” Tony asked.

“I’ve been searching for him since he let go on the Bifrost.” Tony held Thor’s gaze a moment longer, then put down his hand.

“He’s still in a coma,” Tony told him. “Resting from his wounds.”

“You say he was possessed?” Thor asked as they made their way to the elevator.

“It was creepy,” Clint said from behind the god. The rest of the elevator ride was silent the rest of the way down. Tony lead the god to his younger brother, who was still resting peacefully with the reactor pressed against his head.

Tony watched as Thor reached out and touched his brothers head like Loki would crack under the pressure from his hand.

“What have they done to you, brother?” Thor asked. Thor looked up at Tony, eyes desperate to have his younger brother back. “You say he was possessed?” Thor asked. Tony nodded his head, pointing to the arc reactor against Loki’s head.

“We don’t know what to do beyond this or who is doing it,” Tony said. Thor nodded, walking out from the room.

“I am going back to find a healer,” Thor said. “See to it that he is safe.” Thor rushed to the elevator, the tower shaking a half minute later from what was likely the Bifrost opening.

“Jarvis, cancel all appointments for the day.”

“Miss Potts will be displeased,” Jarvis said.

“Don’t care,” Tony said, taking a seat in one of the chairs by Loki’s bed.

“Aren’t you dating?” Natasha asked Tony. The genius smiled, not bothering to try to make it fake.

“Not anymore.” Was all he said. Slowly, the Avengers left the room until only Tony and Loki were left. Tony took Loki’s hand in his and squeezed it gently.

“I promise it will be okay.” He whispered to the god. He leaned back, ignoring the pain in his arm at the awkward angle and felt himself begin to drift.

He roused when the hand tightened around his. Tony lurched back to wakefulness and watched as Loki blinked slowly, turning his head to try and take in his surroundings.

“Hey, there, Loki,” Tony said softly, squeezing his hand again. Loki turned to look at Tony, stiffening for a moment, then relaxing.

“Stark,” He said, voice still hoarse. Tony smiled softly at the bedridden god.

“It’s Tony.”

“Deplorable name,” Loki said with a tight smirk. Tony huffed dramatically.

“I liked you better in your coma.” He squeezed the gods hand affectionately. “Your baby is doing good now that you are healing,” Tony added, watching as Loki’s hand moved to cradle the tiny bump that was beneath the hospital gown.

“Thank you, Anthony.” Tony rolled his hand, dropping his hand.

“Oh, god, please, don’t,” He told the god. “Anthony is much more ‘deplorable’ than Tony.” Loki slowly blinked at him, tightening his hand around Tony’s.

“Did you mean it?” Loki asked slowly, looking at the man with skepticism and a flicker of hope. “Did you mean that you would protect us?”

“I meant every word,” Tony told him. “But you have to know, whoever was possessing you, got through to us.” Loki strained, trying to get up, his spine wound making it difficult to rise from the bed. Tony put his hand on Loki’s chest, reaching behind him to catch the reactor that fell from when Loki got up.

“I know you might be pissed when I say this to you,” Tony said, pushing the god down on the bed and returning the arc reactor back to his temple, “but we had to get Thor so he could know if whoever was possessing you was out of your body.”

“Did he say he was getting a healer,” Loki said, eyes looking longingly at the door.

“I doubt he would get one that is not the best.” Loki huffed at his comment, turning his head back to Tony.

“Then it is probable he getting Mother.” Loki sighed, closing his eyes. Tony pulled his hand away from the god and made his way to where he knew the plastic cups were kept. Pulling one from its brethren, he filled the glass and walked back to Loki.

“We’ll deal with it when it comes,” Tony said, offering the cup to Loki. Tony gave him a quick smile when the god took the cup without question. When Tony reached back for the cup, the tower shook for the third time.

“It seems that your mom’s here to check up on you,” Tony said. “Jarvis, let the Queen in.” Tony walked outside the door, waiting for the Queen to check up on her lost son. _Time for some Stark charm._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading


	5. Nothing but a Chess Board

Tony stood outside the door as the elevator opened to the Avengers, plus the Queen of Asgard.

“Your Highness,” Tony said, bowing his head slightly. The Queen stopped in front of Tony, both knowing that Loki was behind the door.

“Anthony Stark.” She greeted. “Is my son behind that door?” She asked. Tony nodded but refused to move from his spot.

“I need you to guarantee that you will not hurt him.” The Queen bristled at his accusation, gold magic beginning to crack around her hands.

“He is my son.”

“My father said the same thing,” Tony said simply, face impassive as he stood against two royal Asgardians. “and that never stopped him.” He took a step closer to the Queen, ignoring Thor’s growling at him to stand aside.

“I shall not harm him, Anthony Stark.” The Queen promised when her face saddened at his statement. Tony nodded once, dropping his shoulders and walking into the Medical room that Loki was in.

Tony watched as the Queen rushed in and embraced her son gently, muttering in what Tony guessed was Old Norse. Tony smiled when Loki talked softly to his mother, rubbing his stomach as he spoke. Tony nodded once to himself and began to walk out of the room.

Tony was halfway out the room when the back of his shirt was tugged back into the room making him gag is the collar pushed against his windpipe. Tony was spun into the room, back to where he was standing not two moments ago, but with the Queens attention on him rather than her son.

“Thank you, Anthony Stark.” The Queen said, standing next to her son. “Many people would not have done what you have done.”

“So, he is healthy?” Tony asked, eyes darting between the Queen and the prince. The Queen smiled gently with a nod of her head. “Cool,” Tony said, clapping his hands together. “I need your help allowing him to stay here.” He said. “Right now, everyone thinks that he is a criminal, except those in this building.” Tony explained, reaching across the room for one of the StarkPads’ he left around.

“The person, Nick Fury, who runs the resistance against galactic threats now, thinks that he,” Tony pointed at Loki, “is still in jail,” Tony explained. “I’ve gathered proof of his innocence against the media and other dirt I can throw in if need be, but I need you to convince him that Loki was not in control,” Tony told the Queen.

“Fury is going to find out,” Tony said with a nod of his head.

“He knows, sir,” Jarvis said, the Queen looking around for the voice in the walls. Tony cursed.

“What’s his eta?” Tony asked, hearing Loki explain to his mother that the voice was everywhere.

“He will arrive at the top of the Avengers Tower in seven minutes, sir,” Jarvis told them. Tony pinched his brow, rubbing his eyebrows as he felt a stress headache beginning to form.

“I will not let him take my son and granddaughter, Mister Stark.” The Queen said, eyes fierce with gold magic beginning to pool around her hands. Tony lifted his hands in a surrendered gesture.

“I doubt Fury would be stupid enough to start a war against your people,” he said to the Queen. The Queen nodded, looking to her son again. Tony could see that Loki was still exhausted from whatever other healing the Queen did to him.

“I thank you, Anthony Stark,” The Queen said to him, dropping her son's hand to make her way to the door. When the Queen left, Tony saw Loki deflate, his eyes closing and jaw tighten.

“She’ll be back,” Tony said to him. Loki opened his eyes, vulnerability shining through, too weak to care about putting up a face for Tony.

“They all leave,” he said quietly enough that Tony almost missed it. Tony walked up to the edge of his bed, knelt down so he could look the god in the eye and took his hand.

“I’m not going to.” He said. Tony smiled at him, gave him a pat on the shoulder and went to greet the Director.

*

Tony stood on top of the helipad/Asgard transportation pad. He was alone, setting the team up to sit in the meeting room that would only take a minute to walk from his current location. He smiled when the helicopter set down and Nick Fury, clothed in black and his cape blowing dramatically behind him stepped off.

“Stark,” Fury gave him the typical fake smile, “It’s like you knew I was coming,” Tony smiled, wanting badly to say something to the director, but turned, knowing it would piss him off. Tony smiled when he heard the man curse him, following him regardless.

Tony lead Fury into the room with the Avengers and the Queen. He turned at the right moment to see Fury’s surprised face.

“Director,” Tony said, waving his hands to the Queen and bowing to her, mocking the director, “I would like to introduce you to the Queen of Asgard,” He drew up from the bow, a wicked smile on his face, “and the mother to our resident gods.” Tony took two steps back when the Queen stepped forward, face hard with a mix of anger and protectiveness. He smirked as he watched the Director regrouped his thoughts and arguments.

“Director.” The Queen said in a tone that gave the implication that she was better than him. Tony looked over to see that Bruce was thinking the same thing, judging by the small smirk on his face. Thor took a half step forward, flanking his mother with a stern expression on his face.

“Your Highness,” the Director responded.

“Am I correct to assume that you are hear for my son?” The Queen asked, the tension in the room tightening around all of them.

“He is a criminal,” The Director said simply. Tony, Bruce, and Thor stiffened, the tension in the room rising. The Queen smiled at the comment, making Tony smile, knowing that she was currently the most dangerous person in the room.

“Are you so free from illegal, immoral, actions?” She asked him, smile still on her face. “The only difference between what you do and what my son was controlled to do is that you hide behind an organization that…can justify their reasons.”

“He seemed very happy to do what he did.” Fury deadpanned.

“Then you missed what just happened.” The Queen said, smile dropping. “I can assure you, that was _not_ my son.” She told him.

“Loki has been known for his trick,” Thor imputed, “but he has never done something that would cause harm to a society.”

“He killed thousands,” Fury said.

“Actually,” Tony said, raising his hand and strutting closer to the Director. “Jarvis ran _a lot_ of scans and found that no one actually died.” He said, crossing his arms with a grin. “Injured? Sure. Calamity damage? Absolutely.” Tony’s thoughts drifted to when Clint told him that they could not bank and forcing them to run into structures to get them off his tail. “Money lost? Trust me, I know all about that.”

“He was being controlled much like Clint,” Thor growled to Fury.

“You really believe that?” Fury asked Thor.

“I do,” Clint pipped in. He wore a stone face when the Director looked at him. “I could only see into his mind for a couple moments, but I can tell you, it was not fun in there.” He told the Director.

“Do you really want to risk the wrath of Asgard?” The Queen interrupted. “He is still a Prince.” She told him. “By taking him into your custody without reasonable cause would lead to a war between Migard and Asgard. Do you risk that for your pride?” The Queen took another step closer to Fury. “If you so much as cause him any stress, Director Fury, I will see you in one of the Asgardian prisons for trying to start a war.”

“He killed Coulson,” the Director said, not backing down. Tony looked over the Director’s shoulder when he saw a flicker of movement getting closer to them.

“Actually,” Coulson said casually, “I’m fine, no thanks to you.” All of the Avengers, the Director included, froze at the sight of the smiling handler. Tony was the first to recover, a smile widening.

“You were always one to make an entrance, Agent.” At Agent Coulson’s smile, Clint was the second to react by rushing to the agent and hugging him tight. Agent Coulson returned the hug and that was when the shouting started.

Natasha was cursing Fury out in Russian. Tony didn’t need to know all the words that she was saying to know that she was probably threatening to kill him in slow, painful ways. Steve was growing at the Director for using his death as a ploy. Bruce was looking slightly green around the ears at all the shouting, fists clenching at his sides to try and curb his anger. Thor and the Queen stood out of the way of their directed anger at the Director.

Then Steve quietly muttered,

“You even got his cards bloody,” and that was when, somehow, everyone quieted, giving glances between the Director, Steve and Phil Coulson.

“You mean to tell me,” Phil started off slowly, “that you got my vintage cards bloody?” Phil closed his eyes and took a deep breath, Tony recognizing it as the ‘I need to not to kill,’ deep breath. “If she,” Phil said, pointing to the Queen, “doesn’t kill you,” He pointed to himself, “I will.” Phil dropped his hand. “Especially after TAHITI,” Clint and Tony were going to ask what that meant, but the Queen interjected,

“Well, Director, it seems that you are outmatched.” She smiled at him. “My son will continue to stay on Midgard under the care of Anthony Stark and you shall do nothing to harm him.” She turned to face Tony. “I would ask for you for a moment, Mister Stark.” The Queen turned and walked out of the room, leaving Fury to deal with the team as he followed her out of the room.

“Might you lead us to a place that there are no ears?” She asked. Tony nodded with a grin and walked away from the room, hearing the voices of anger rising as he led them to a far room from all the Avengers.

“Thank you, your Highness,” Tony said, bowing his head slightly. The Queen laughed, her voice musical and happy.

“Please, Anthony,” She said, taking one of his hands, “to you, its Frigga.” Tony nodded his head. Frigga closed her eyes and Tony watched as his hand began to glow with hers. Magic, a bright golden thread, coiled around his hand and into his palm. He flinched when he felt a cold object growing in his hand. Frigga opened her hand and pulled open Tony’s palm to reveal a small river stone with a Norse design on the face of it.

“The Norns told me that your adventure is far from over,” She said with a smirk. “This rune has enough magic to take you where you desire and do what you wish.” She closed his palm. “All you have to do is think about what you want or where you wish to go, and it shall do so for you.” She dropped her hand, her eyes glinting.

“Rather ominous,” Tony said, turning the river rune in his hand.

“Since when have the gods been forthcoming to mortals?” She asked. Tony smirked and rolled his eyes.

“Now I know where Loki gets it from,” Frigga smiled at him, taking a step away from him.

“I am trusting you with my son’s life, and my grandchildren, Anthony Stark.” She said to him. “I do not believe I need to warn you if you harm him.” Tony nodded with a smile.

“If I ever hurt him, then by all means.” He said with a grin. Frigga nodded her head, the smirk returning to her lips.

“I have a feeling that seven of you will be a happy family.” Frigga turned when Tony’s jaw dropped. He was to stunned to say anything as she walked away from him, likely to where Thor was to take her back to Asgard.

“Wait, what?” He asked, rushing to try to get an explanation from her. He ran past a pissed off Fury to the helipad, watching as Thor lifted his hammer and the Bifrost opened to the right of where the helicopter was.

“What does that even mean?” He shouted as the light shone around the two of them. He watched as they vanished in the light and another portion of his roof was tattooed with the Bifrost design. Tony flopped his hands against his thighs as they left.

“Fucking cryptic gods,” He muttered, looking at the ground. He turned, walking over to where Bruce was standing, still looking a bit green.

“How you doing?” Tony muttered when the two of them watched Fury walk his way to the helicopter and begin to fly away.

“As good as you could expect.” He responded. Tony nodded his head twice, twisting the rune in his hand.

“Do you want me in the Habitat?” He asked. Bruce shook his head,

“No, I’m going to check up on Loki, then go for a couple hours.” Bruce turned to walk to where Loki was recovering. The two of them boarded the elevator in silence, Tony ignoring the texts and missed calls from Pepper being pissed about him missing his meetings.

Bruce and Tony walked into the Medical room finding that Loki was not alone. Agent Coulson was standing next to the tired god, shrugging at something he said.

“Ah, Doctor Banner, Mr. Stark,” The man greeted. Loki smiled at the two of them, contently rubbing his stomach.

“What are you doing here, Agent?” Tony questioned, giving the handler a gentle push.

“I was talking to Loki about some Top Secret information if you must know,” Coulson said with a grin. Tony rolled his eyes, knowing better than to ask about what they were talking about.

“Well, if you are staying, Jarvis can get you set up with a room,” Coulson smirked at Tony, moving towards the door.

“I was going to be staying here regardless of your invitation.” Coulson patted Tony on the back as he walked out of the room.

“I like him,” Loki told the two of them. Bruce chuckled as he went to check on Loki’s vitals and other scans. Tony pocketed the rune stone, hiding it from Bruce and Loki, wanting to figure out the trick for himself.

“How are you feeling?” Tony asked, getting closer to him.

“Dirty,” Loki grimaced. Bruce winced at his response as he switched out the saline bag.

“You should be good to go tomorrow,” Bruce told him. “I want to keep you here for another night so we know you are good on fluids, the baby is healthy and the infections in your lips are healed,” He walked away from the god, “as well as the large cut you have on your back.” Loki nodded to the Doctor. Bruce patted Loki on the shoulder lightly, doing the same to Tony with more force and walked out.

When Tony knew Bruce was out of earshot, he looked back to the god,

“Fury really pissed him off,” Loki nodded.

“I’ve been on the wrong side of his rage,” He muttered, “I do not envy anyone who angers him,” Tony was going to respond, but Jarvis interrupted him,

“Sir, Miss Potts is on the line,” The AI sounded concerned for him when he relayed the message.

“I told her that I was not going to the meetings,” Tony said, keeping the emotion out from his voice.

“Your woman?” Loki asked. Tony snorted, face twisting with mixed emotions.

“No.” He said to the god. He raised his eyes to the ceiling again.

“Tell her that I will not be going to the remainder of the meetings today.” He sighed, rubbing his head with a sigh. He looked at the god, unhappy with his state of hygiene. “I know Bruce wants to keep you in bed until tomorrow,” Tony said slowly, not knowing how the god would take the offer he wasn’t sure if he was entirely ready to give himself, “but if you want to take a bath, I could help you with that?”

He watched as Loki’s eyes widened with fear at the offer of being exposed to the man when he was in such a weakened state. Tony took his hand and squeezed it gently when he saw the god begin to shake, the heart monitor beep louder and more frequently as his breathing picked up.

“Hey,” He said, getting down on his knees so Loki wouldn’t feel threatened, “I wouldn’t do anything you wouldn’t want help with.” He explained, rubbing his thumb across his knuckles. “If you just want help getting to the bathroom with the machines you are hooked up to, I could do that and leave you with a set of clothes inside before I go.” He told the god, keeping his voice low, smiling when his breathing began to slow. “If you do want me to help you bathe and you don’t want me there anymore, then tell me to leave and I will go without a word.” He shrugged once. “Of course, I will check up on you from outside the door to make sure that you would be okay, but you would have all the control,” Tony assured him.

The god searched his face, hand clenching around Tony’s tightly. To Loki, this would be the first time he had trusted anyone since discovering what he was before he fell off the Bifrost. This wouldn’t be the first time he was exposed to the man who helped him survive escaping, but it would be the first time Loki would have a mild sense of control. There was also the part where Loki knew Tony could easily kill him and his child if Loki let his guard drop for a moment.

But so far, Tony had done nothing to warrant his distrust. Even when they were ‘enemies,’ he was civil to the god, offering him things even then.

“Make one wrong move,” He warned. Tony smiled at him, the hand that was not holding the gods going to his extra heart.

“I wouldn’t,” He assured Loki, “but yes, I will expect a slow and painful death from many.” He stood and walked to the machines that he knew didn’t need to be hooked up to the god. “Bruce would kill me if I removed your fluids,” he said, leaving the only needle in his arm alone. “We’ll just make sure to keep it out of the water.” Tony removed the locks keeping the wheels in place and began to push the god out of the room.

Tony smiled as he pushed the god out of the door.

“Ready?” He asked, voice filled with mirth. Loki looked back at Tony, eyes concerned.

“For what?” He asked. Tony looked up, eyes narrowing as he began to run, pushing the hospital bed so it would move faster. Loki cursed in his own language as Tony pushed his past Thor and Steve. Tony braked hard when they had to turn, Loki starting to laugh when Tony picked up a run for the large bathroom that was on the floor.

“I am happy to see Tony making Loki gay again,” Thor said with a large smile, walking to the common area.

“What?” Steve asked, freezing to look down the hall. Thor furrowed his brow.

“I enjoy seeing Loki happy.” Thor saying as he flopped on the couch. Steve looked back to where Tony pushed Loki past him, shaking his head and walking to where Thor was seated, choosing to ignore the partial longing that was in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Your comments and Kudos are welcome. You people are awesome. Hugs!


	6. Suds and Spaghetti

Tony slowed his running when he got closer to the large bathroom. His heart was pounding, face had a smile and was proud that he made the god laugh at his antics. Loki smile was bright, his laugh, happy and carefree from when Tony nearly pushed the bed into his older brother.

Tony carefully pushed the bed through the door and around to where the large bathroom.

“Remember,” he said to the god, making eye contact with him briefly, “I’m not going to do anything you don’t want.” He looked up when he pushed the bed into the bathroom. Tony began to draw the water for the bath. As the water began to fill the tub, he walked over to the god’s fluid bag and hung it on a hook that would typically hold a lufa. Tony walked around the bed to where he kept spare shampoos, conditioners, body washes and lotions.

He put the bottles on the edge of the tub for him. He clapped his hands, looking back to Loki when he stopped the water.

“How do you want to do this?” He asked. Loki looked at the tub of water then back to the man. He sighed slowly.

“I trust you,” He said quietly. Tony nodded his head as he went to the god and began to get him to stand. “I am not an invalid,” He growled when Tony helped him stand. Tony rolled his eyes.

“No,” He said as he began to undo the knots on the gown, “but you are still malnourished and weaker than you should be,” He undid the last of the knots and began to slowly slip the gown off the god.

“This is humiliating,” Loki whispered, voice sounding like it was shaking. Tony slid the gown down to Loki’s hips, then pulled away to face the god. His eyes were bright with tears again, hands clenched tightly to keep his emotions in check.

“No,” He said slowly, “it’s not,” He squeezed the god’s shoulder gently, trying to reassure him. “It takes me a long time to admit I need help,” Tony sighed, “and when I do, it is often too late,” He told the god. “Please don’t make the same mistakes I do,” Tony smiled at the god, brushing one of the tears away from his eyes when if slipped from his control. “Ready?” He asked, motioning with his head to the tub. Loki nodded once.

Tony lifted the god and removed the gown, not looking anywhere he shouldn’t at this moment. He lifted the god and gently put him in the tub.

Loki sighed happily as the warm water massaged his sore muscles.

“Glad I’m pleasing my god,” Tony said quietly. Loki hummed to the man, eyes closed as the water seeped into him. Tony let the god sit in the water for another minute as he took the bottles in his hand and reached for the shower head. He turned it on under the water, watching him for any movements of fear. Adjusting the temperature, he slowly pulled the shower hose out of the water, letting it caress over Loki’s arms to know where the water was going.

He got to the god’s neck and slowly began to wet the god’s hair, keeping the water from hitting him in the face. Tony shut off the water so he could begin to massage Loki’s scalp with the shampoo.

He grimaced when the shampoo came up a light pink color and the water begin to change from clear to a mix of dirt brown and blood red. _I’m sorry I didn’t do this sooner._ He thought as he gently scraped the god’s scalp. Loki sighed again, eyes flicking in the back of his head at the sensation.

Tony spent another five minutes on his scalp before rinsing the water from his head. He repeated the process with the conditioner, half smiling when the conditioner went on white and stayed white. The man let the conditioner sit in the black hair as he went for the body wash. Tony carefully rubbed Loki’s skin, watching for any sign of fear as he went from his left arm and to the right. He took hold of the shower hose and began to wash the soap from the god’s arms and wet his chest.

Loki came out of his head when he felt a hand slowly make its way to his chest and shoulders. He stiffened slightly when Tony’s hands came close to his neck. He felt the hands stop, not sliding away like he had been caught and not tightening as if he didn’t have time to slowly kill the god. Loki felt his body relax back into the warm water when he felt that there was no threat.

Loki cracked an eye, watching the man from the other side of the tub begin to wash the dirt from his paler body. Tony washed him with the indifference of his physical aspects as a healer would but with the attention and care, the _love_ of a lover. Loki tightened his jaw once, not allowing himself to feel a longing for such an illusion as Tony’s hand moved down his torso.

Tony avoided cleaning Loki in such a private area with his bare hands, especially for what happened to the god. He moved his hands to his mid-thigh and down to his knees, pulling the dead skin, dried blood that was not wiped off when he and Bruce got the god stable from when he first came. He applied more soap to his hands and dipped them in the dirty water, washing the remainder of his legs and feet.

Tony shuffled back over to Loki’s head, taking the shower hose back in his hand and rinsing the conditioner out from Loki’s hair. Tony pulled the plug from the drain and watched as the water began to fall from the tub.

“I’m going to let you soak for a couple more minutes in fresher water,” He spoke softly in Loki’s ear as he rinsed the god with the shower hose. When all the water left the tub, Tony quickly rinsed it, watching as the blood, dirt riddled soap fell down the drain. He pulled the stopper back up and began to fill the tub again, moving Loki away from where the water would be coming from.

Tony realized he was hugging the god when Loki threw the arm that didn’t have his fluid drip around him and began to weep softly into his shoulder. Tony dropped the hose into the tub and rubbed his hand up and down the god’s spine, tracing over the scar on his back.

“I got you,” He told the god as the tub filled. “I’m here,” he whispered into the god’s ear, reaching awkwardly to stop the tub from overflowing. “Nothing is going to hurt you again, I promise,” Tony whispered, taking a chance and gently kissing the side of Loki’s wet hair.

Loki pulled away from Tony, eyes red-rimmed from crying and kissed Tony, hotly, pushing his tongue past Tony’s lips, hand reaching down to cup Tony’s member through his dress pants. Tony pushed himself off the god gently.

“Loki,” He whispered softly, “You owe me nothing,” He said, gently pushing the god back in the water, removing his hand. “I don’t want you to repay me,” he whispered when the god closed his eyes and tears began to fall down his eyes again. “I am not going to take advantage of you,” He told the god, rubbing his wrist.

“You are not taking advantage of me,” Loki growled at him, angry and making a move to grab Tony’s head to kiss him again. Tony took his hand and gently kissed his inner wrist.

“If you wanted to have sex with me,” He said carefully, “you would be hard,” Loki wrenched his hand back from Tony and began to curl in on himself. “It’s okay,” He whispered softly to him.

“No, it’s not,” Loki growled, Tony seeing him trying to keep from crying. “You care for me as a lover, yet you do not want the one aspect that all people want from a lover,” Loki panted harshly, hand beginning to move to his stomach to protect his child from a threat that did not exist. Tony reached his hand to thread his fingers through the god’s hair.

“Coming from me, this is going to sound ridiculous, but not all relationships need to have sex, Loki,” Loki scoffed, turning his head away from Tony for a moment.

“Then what am I to you?” He asked, voice sounding more broken than when he first arrived. Tony moved his hand to cup Loki’s cheek, prompting him to turn his head to face the man.

“We can figure it out together.” He offered. Tony rubbed Loki’s knuckles, trying to reassure the god in the tub.

“You move rather quickly from conquest to conquest,” Loki said, trying to growl at the man but failing due to emotional exhaustion. Tony’s face hardened at Loki’s thoughts.

“First,” he said, stopping his knuckle rubbing, ‘neither you nor Pepper were a ‘conquest,’” He told the god. “Second, Pepper and I broke it off unofficially a while ago. We stayed together for the public image. Did it hurt? Yes, especially since it was not ripped off like a bandage should be. The fake smiling hurt like a bitch when we both were unhappy.” He leaned forward and kissed Loki’s forehead. “Is there something here that is more than a friendship? Yes, but that doesn’t mean you owe me _anything.”_ He told Loki. He pulled his head away from the god and smiled, standing. “You soak in here while I find you some pajamas.”

Tony walked out of the bathroom, knees stiff from kneeling on the tile for so long. He walked to one of the draws and began to dig around for Loki fitting clothes.

He found a set of satin black sleep pants and a matching shirt that looked like they would fit the god. Walking back to the bathroom, he found Loki standing out of the tub, hair dripping down his shoulders with a towel around his waist. Tony shook his head once, not allowing any thoughts to being to form.

Without a word from either of them, Tony began to help the god dress, putting on the pants first, then the shirt. Tony helped Loki get back on the hospital bed so he could towel the dark hair dry. Tony tossed the towel and the gown into one of the hampers for the Cleaning Crew to come and collect.

While Tony could use a brush to untangle the knots in the dark hair, Tony stroked the hair, manually taking apart the knots and straightening the dark hair himself. When Loki’s hair was set, Tony noticed that the god had fallen asleep on the bed. He smiled and kissed the god on the head again. Tony walked over to the fluid bag, hooking it back to the bed and wheeled the god back to the Medical Bay without causing a disturbance as he did before.

Tony parked the bed, squeezed the gods hand again and left the room after putting a second blanket on Loki, making sure he would be warm for the remainder of when he was sleeping.

Tony walked from the Medical Bay and to where one of his secret doors was. He popped it open and walked to where he knew one of the Hulk Habitat doors was. Going in through the back of the elevator was tricky, but he managed to get in and take the elevator up to go see Bruce or the Hulk.

The door opened and Tony could not see the Hulk in the room. He walked up to the side of the bed and began to scale the side of it to make sure Bruce hadn’t drowned in the blankets. He laughed softly when he found Bruce snoring loudly, spread out on as much as the Hulk-sized bed as he could, the corner of the blanket keeping his entire body covered. Tony nodded his head once and began to climb down from the bed.

When he got down to the main common room, Tony looked at the clock to see that it was almost four. He sighed and began to pull out boxes and boxes of pasta, meatballs, sauce jars and loafs of bread. He picked up some pots, filling them with water and began to start making dinner.

“I didn’t know you could cook anything other than coffee,” Steve said from behind him when he was slicing the bread. Tony jumped, the knife slipping in his hand and cutting his index finger. Tony cursed in front of the good captain when blood began to weep from his finger.

“Tony, I’m sorry,” Steve said, rushing to get a napkin for Tony to use. Tony rolled his eyes as he went to the sink, turning on the water.

“It’s all good,” He said, “I didn’t bleed on the food.” He shut off the tap and accepted the napkin Steve handed to him. “You just surprised me, that’s all,” Tony turned around to see that Steve had gotten him a Band-Aid.

Wound patched up, Tony cleaned the knife and began his cooking process again.

“Jarvis’ wife taught me how to cook when I was younger when she could,” Tony said, stirring the meat free sauce, then the noodles. “Aunt Peggy did too,” He added. Steve perked up at the woman’s name.

“You knew Peggy?” He asked. Tony smiled brightly at him.

“Yeah, she used to ‘babysit’ me when I was a kid,” Tony smirked at the Captain. “She told me about the fondue incident.” Steve huffed, rolling his eyes at him.

“Of all the things I’ve done, that is what I am known for.” Steve rolled his eyes a second time. “Well, that was before Bucky and I.” Tony stopped stirring his current noodle pot and gaped at the man. Steve blushed when he realized what he said to Tony.

“Is that why you’ve seemed distant?” Tony asked, resuming his stirring for a moment, then moving to heat the oven for garlic bread. Tony looked at the Captain to see that his shoulders were dropping sadly.

“I miss him,” He whispered to Tony. Tony reached over his shoulder and patted him once. “Just cherish him, Tony,” Steve said, looking up at the man behind the stove. “You never know when you are going to lose them forever. Always say you love them, hold hands, kiss, do whatever to stay close to him,” Steve told Tony. “Because you can lose it all in a moment.”

Steve got up from his seat, going to walk away from the man, but Tony stood in front of him with his stirring spoon pointed at the man.

“The Winter Soldier is still out there,” Tony said, “We will find him and bring him home, Steve.”

“He’s not Bucky,” Steve said, trying to sidestep the shorter man. Tony followed his movement, spoon still pointing at the super soldier.

“Not with that thinking,” Tony said sternly. “We will get him back and he will need every waking, breathing moment of you to help him along. You keep thinking like you are and it will be nothing but more difficult to get him back.” Tony lowered the spoon, walking back to the kitchen and putting the garlic bread in the oven. “Keep your chin up, Steve,” He ordered.

Steve looked a bit hesitant but smiled at him.

“And go call the others and tell them that dinner is in ten minutes,” He ordered. Tony watched as Steve rolled his eyes, but did as he asked. Tony turned off all the burners and set up the buffet food bar that they often had. Tony reached into his pocket, touching the river rune as he walked away from the kitchen to go to Loki.

He found the god stretching in his bed, clearly waking from a nap.

“Evening,” He said, stroking the now dry, dark hair. “I’m going to introduce you to garlic bread.” He said, pulling the fluid bag needle from his arm, putting a Band-Aid on the puncture.

“In this state?” He asked, looking down at his pajamas. Tony snorted as he began leading the god to the common floor where dinner would be served. Tony watched as Clint sat down at one of the chairs, a heaping pile of food on his plate. Bruce joined in, looking better and well rested.

“You should probably take it easy on the food aspect,” Bruce said, grabbing a plate to serve himself. Tony helped put food on Loki’s plate, then put him at a seat. Tony walked back to the food and served himself a plate. Thor walked into the room, hugging his brother to then move and take two plates of food.

Loki laughed when he watched his brother struggle with the noodles, forcing him to eat slower. He squeezed the hand that he was holding under the table when Tony’s foot nudged his own.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long to write. I'm really sick so I'm trying really hard to be coherent enough to put up a good chapter. So sorry about it taking so long.

_Loki was strapped down, unable to move his arms and legs, magic bound around his wrist and ankles. Loki screamed when a man in gold brought a bronze knife down onto his large stomach. He screamed in pain and rage at his father pulling the blade across his womb._

_“Don’t!” He shouted as his father tossed the blade to the side. Loki tried to pull away from the King’s hand as they reached for the child that was being pulled from his womb. The King said nothing as he pulled a limp child out of Loki’s womb._

_“Have you not learned from your last children, Loki?” The King sneered. “I will kill them all.”_

Loki shot up from the bed, hands gripping his stomach to the point where his nails were leaving moon shapes on them. His jaw was clenched as he tried to get his breathing under control to no avail.

Loki crumpled in on himself, bringing his knees to his chest to further protect the life that was growing inside him.

He didn’t hear Tony rush into the room, flinching when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Loki looked up, seeing that Tony was talking to him, but he couldn’t hear past the sound of his heart beating.

Loki shook his head, one hand clenching Tony’s shirt, to pull him away or closer, neither knew. Loki flinched when Tony’s hand came closer to his face. The warm hand froze for a moment, then slowly moved to cusp the god’s cheek. Loki drew a sharp breath in, then relaxed into the hand.

“He was taking them,” Loki said, legs flopping to his side as Tony moved deeper into his own bed.

“He is not going to have them,” Tony whispered as Loki closed his eyes, putting his head on the man’s chest, grimacing when his scalp hit a sharp edge of the arc reactor. Loki whimpered, moving his head over so that it fit more comfortably on the man’s chest.

Tony moved backwards to better fit the god so that he would rest. He was leaning back in a way that hurt his right kidney and left him half draped, half squatting on the bed so that he could comfort the god.

Ten minutes of silence went by where Loki focused mainly on his own breathing and listening to the heartbeat of the man he was resting on.

“Remind me why I am here?” Loki questioned, annoyance at the entire predicament wrapping around his mind. Tony took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

“And you would like me to begin, where?” Tony asked, looking down at the god with a smirk. Loki rolled his eyes, hand still clutched to his womb.

“Where were you?” Loki asked, rolling off of Tony to lay on his back, the sheets strewn over his sleep clothes Tony got for him. Tony rubbed his back with a shrug.

“Down in the Lab working on a way to keep Fury out from sticking his nose where it shouldn’t be,” he told the god.

“And you are not currently lying beside me, because,” the god prompted.

“Don’t you think we are moving a bit fast?” Tony asked the god. “I mean, you landed here, bleeding, got possessed, got the demon out of you, talked to your mother, who healed you, and I believe you have the equivalent of PTSD in our human terms.” Tony sighed, stroking his chin for a moment. “What I’m asking is if you really want this?” Tony closed his eyes, sighing deeply. “I don’t want you to believe that you have to be in a relationship with me, or anyone for that matter if you don’t want to be in one,”

Loki looked down at his hands, keeping quiet for a few minutes.

“Mother healed the mind sickness.” He said, “if that is one of the things you fear,” He said, looking back at Tony. “The reason for moving quickly?” The god said, eyes darkening as he rolled back onto Tony. “I’ve watched everything I thought I owned, torn from my hands in the matter of moments.” Loki closed his eyes, hands gripping Tony’s biceps as he tried to relax.

“I am no longer going to lose that which I love again.” Loki told him. The god gracefully flattened himself on top of Tony, listening to the slight whir that the reactor had and the light drum of the man’s heart. “Perhaps it is fast,” Loki whispered into the man’s chest. “But I am a god that does what I want and you are a mortal; you only have so many years.” Loki moved his one hand from Tony’s left arm to his side. “If you do not feel the emotion yet, I understand. But you will.”

“You seem so sure,” Tony told the god, smirking at him. Loki rolled his eyes, then flailed a bit as Tony rolled the two of them onto their sides so they could get comfortable for the night.

“I am a god,” Loki said when he got comfortable, “I always get what I want.” Tony snorted as he pulled the covers onto their bodies.

“Go to sleep, high and mighty,” Tony said, closing his eyes, feeling the weight of sleeplessness creeping up on him.

*

Tony woke before the god that morning. Loki was strewn out on the bed, sheets wrapped around his frame, hair tussled from when he moved too much in the night. Tony laughed quietly as he slipped from the bed.

Tony walked back to his own room, changing into a soft grey tee shirt and faded jeans. Walking to the drawer he placed the stone in, he pulled it out and strode to his bed.

He looked at the river stone, contemplating what it would do.

“Jarvis, scan this please,” He said, offering the stone up to the ceiling. He pulled his hand down, still gazing at the stone, mind oddly blank as he tried to think about what it was or what it would be used for.

“It seems to hold the same energy as the Bifrost, sir,” Jarvis told him. Tony hummed.

“So it is a teleportation stone?” He asked, tossing the stone in the air with one hand, catching it with the other.

“There is also another signature around it, but I have no data on it,” Jarvis added as Tony tossed the stone again.

He failed to catch it this time, letting it land on one of the pillows to see what it would do. The stone glowed as it flopped on the pillow. He watched as the stone glowed a gold color, then flashed once.

Tony blinked at the sight of a very tiny pillow that seemed to be taken apart. Feathers were in a pile, cloth in another and the stuffing in a third, all in miniature versions of what they should have been.

“It transforms things into a smaller form, sir,” Jarvis said as Tony picked up the stone, turning it in his hand. “I believe it broke the pillow into its baser forms.” Tony stood up and walked to the door, stone in hand.

“Jarvis, record and scan everything,” Tony said, looking at the stone in his hand, “Let it be known that I am crazy.”

“That information was already well known, sir,” Jarvis told him. Tony closed his eyes and thought about moving to the bed. He opened his eyes when he felt the stone begin to get cold in his hand. The glow began to fade as he thought about how it was working until it looked like a river stone again.

“Requires concentration,” He said out loud for the recording to pick up. Tony closed his eyes again, thinking about getting to the bed. He felt the stone get cold in his hand again. He opened his eyes again, being sure to keep his mind on getting to the bed rather than what the stone was made of and how the magic worked. He watched as the stone’s glow brightened once, then he felt as he was being pulled by the arm, but at a thousand miles per hour.

Tony groaned when the feeling stopped. Rubbing his eyes, he opened them to see that he was kneeling on the bed. Looking down, the stone was the same as it always was when it was inactive.

Tony understood what it was meant to do, what he was meant to do with it.

“Jarvis, it breaks down magic into its baser form,” He said, sitting back on his legs turning the stone over multiple times. “Jarvis, find me a safe house near woods, a lake, has a lot of space where people won’t know about it.”

“Is this safe house allowed to be in upstate New York?” Jarvis asked. Tony nodded his head.

“Make sure it can fit two gods, a hulk, super soldiers, all the Avengers.” He said, pocketing the stone. “Don’t tell the Avengers of this plan yet, we’ll make it a surprise.” He smirked. Tony got up, pocketing the stone as he walked to the main floor.

“There are three manors that fit your need, sir,” Jarvis told him as he walked to the kitchen, beginning to pick some of the apples from the fruit basket and a cutting board.

“Buy the one that will be easiest to furnish and install security. Then buy the furnishing and get my security team to set it up for Stark/Avenger living.”

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis said. Tony pulled out a bowl as he began to cube the apples. Mindlessly, he began to make enough food for all the Avengers, putting loafs of Apple Cake in the oven as the sun began to rise.

“Sir, Captain Rogers approaches.” Jarvis told him as Tony took a sip from his coffee mug.

“Morning, Cap.” Tony greeted the man, hair wet from his post workout shower.

“You need more sleep than four hours, Tony,” Steve said. Tony shrugged as he drank the last of his first cup of coffee. He leaned over the counter as he filled his mug again. Steve raised an eyebrow when he looked to see that the oven was on again.

“Who taught you this one?” Steve asked, pulling the Orange Juice from the fridge as Natasha walked into the kitchen, her ‘just woke up’ face on. Tony handed her a mug filled with black coffee as she got closer to the two of them. She didn’t say anything to him as she walked away from the kitchen, likely going back to her room.

“I found it online.” Tony said, putting the kettle on for Bruce, knowing he would be the next one to get out of bed. Steve put his glass of half-drunk Orange Juice on the counter as he picked up enough plates for all of them, putting them on the table when Tony pointed. Tony reached into another cabinet for a mug with the SHIELD logo on it and a mug with a Hulk in various yoga poses.

Tony picked one of the tea bags from Bruce’s ‘Surprise Me’ jar and popped it into the mug when the man walked in. Tony poured the water in the mug, then passed off the liquid to his science bro. Phil and Loki came next, Phil wearing a suit and looking more alive than most people, Loki wearing a sweat shirt and pants, looking like he would rather be in bed.

Tony passed Phil his mug of coffee with a smile.

“Never thought you would be the team mom.” Phil muttered into his mug when he thought Tony wouldn’t hear.

“Breakfast is in ten.” Tony said, looking at one of the vents, expecting Clint to pop out of it immediately. When he didn’t, Tony sighed. He made sure nothing would set him on fire, then climbed on top of his counter, ignoring the protests of Bruce and Steve, Loki and Phil watching as Tony scaled the refrigerator next to pull one of the vent grates open and crawl in.

Tony army crawled his way through the ventilation system, knowing two places Clint was likely to be. He shivered when a light breeze went through the system, trying to cool the rooms around the Tower. Tony nodded, turning left at the next intersection to where one of the reactor coolers was.

He smiled when he saw Clint curled up in the box intersection at the reactor cooler that funneled the hot air out of the building, making the box juncture warm for the hawk. Tony squeezed the man’s arm, waking him.

“How the hell did you get here?” Clint asked, rolling over and pushing the blankets to the edge of the reactor funnel.

“I scaled the fridge.” Tony said as he turned around and began to crawl to the nearest exit. Tony heard Clint grumble, but began making his way to a different exit. Tony got to one of the exits and maneuvered his body slowly as to not fall on his head as he got out of the vents. Clint had more experience flipping out of vents, but Tony thought he had style as he did it.

Brushing himself off, Tony replaced the cover and made his way back to the kitchen ten seconds before Clint walked in, still looking sleepy. Natasha was glaring at her coffee, still not entirely awake. Tony removed the Apple Cake from the oven.

“Yes,” Clint said, waking up instantly, “Cake for breakfast.”

“And it counts as a fruit.” Clint took a large piece, smelling it happily.

“This is not a complete breakfast.” Phil told Tony, taking a piece despite his words.

“It counts as a fruit.” Tony said again, passing a piece to Loki. Loki thanked him, then took a bite. He smiled as he continued to eat his cake. Tony pulled the other two out and leaving them to cool.

Tony plopped down next to the god, biting into the warm, sweet cake. He sighed when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. Tony grabbed his phone, careful not to let the rune stone show. Tony sighed when he saw Pepper was calling him.

“Excuse me,” He said as he left the table and walked out to a quiet room.

“What the hell are you doing, buying five-million-dollars’ worth of property, tech and furniture?” Pepper shouted at him. Tony grit his teeth, willing himself to not start yelling.

“My money, Pepper, I can do what I want with it.” He told her calmly, smirking on the other side of the phone knowing she was pissed at him for not raising to her challenge.

“You didn’t come to another board meeting.” She growled at him.

“I don’t need to be at the meetings,” He said, beginning to pace out his frustration at the call. “I gave you all the plans, they know what is going to happen.”

“It’s an image,” She told him. “I’ve sent you numerous papers you need to sign.” She said over the phone, sounding angry. He didn’t reply to her. He listened as she sighed into the phone. “Please sign them.” Tony nodded, knowing she couldn’t see him.

“It’ll get done.” He said, then hanging up. Tony sighed at the tension between his former girlfriend, current friend. Shaking his hands out, Tony smiled and walked back to the kitchen, grabbing a StarkPad. He sat down next to Loki, who was eating another large piece with Clint.

“I’m going to get fat, Stark.” Clint said with a smile as he filled his mouth again. Tony rolled his eyes, pulling up the papers Pepper needed him to sign.

Tony was half way through the papers, not reading them, when he felt Loki begin to shake next to him. Tony put his StarkPad away so he could hold the god.

“I hate pregnancy hormones,” The god growled at all of them. Tony shushed him, circling his thumb on the small of the gods back. Loki shuddered and whispered in Tony’s ear,

“Sleipnir would have loved this.” Tony pulled away from the god, wiping the tears away from his eyes.

“I have a plan about that.” He said.


	8. Changing Mysteries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been ten days, I'm so sorry. Here, have a chapter.

Loki froze from eating another piece of food to look at the man that made their breakfast.

“What do you mean?” Loki whispered, not daring to think of what the answer could mean for him and the family that was taken from him. “Please don’t tease me.” Loki pleaded, putting his food down to instinctually touch his womb that carried the child he swore his father would not take from him.

“Your mother has a task for me,” Tony said, pulling the rune from his pocket, keeping it in his hand. “I didn’t want to tease you when I didn’t know what it meant,” Tony said, holding his fist to Loki’s one hand. Loki watched as Tony uncurled his hand, revealing the rune river stone.

Loki put his hand on top of the river stone, eyes welling with tears. He closed them, one slipping from his eyes, slipping down his cheeks as he realized that he might have his family returned to him. Tony clenched his god’s hand, the stone between the two of them.

“Mother is sending you and you alone on a journey,” Loki said when he looked up. Tony smirked at his god, pulling his hand away so he could pocket the stone.

“I have to be quick about it,” Tony said to Loki, taking a bite of the Apple Cake. “I have no doubt that Odin will be pleased about me releasing your children from their prisons.” Tony ate another larger piece, clapping his hands when his phone beeped, signaling that Pepper had sent him the paper that he needed to sign.

“Jarvis, sign these papers for me. I know Pepper went through all them. Send them at a time that I would typically send the so she doesn’t get suspicious.”

“Very well, sir,” his AI responded to him.

“And get Happy to give us a lift to the New York Location.”

“Sir, it is nowhere near ready for you or any others to live there.” Tony hummed, looking down at his phone as the file Pepper sent him downloaded.

“Tony,” Loki said to him. “I thank you for your willingness to rescue my children so quickly, but if you fail on getting the Bifrost working, it will kill you and my child.”

“They should not have to deal with another day of the punishment Odin put on them,” Tony growled at his phone, feeling an old sense of longing for someone to get him when Howard was beating him and he had no one.

The hand on his cheek pulled him away from his thoughts as he looked the god in the eyes.

“My children are strong. Stronger than you might realize,” Loki said. “I do not want you to give a half attempt at saving them and they die because of your lack of experience in traveling or knowing where you are going.” Tony closed his eyes, knowing that the god was right in what he was saying.

“Okay,” Tony said to him, eyes opening. “But once the New York Location is finished being proofed for everything, I’m getting your kids.” He vowed. Loki smiled, pulling the man from his chair to embrace him.

“I will need to train you on how to get from one place to another,” Loki said, resuming eating his breakfast. “You will need to focus yourself on getting from Midgard to Asgard and then back here with a child.” He nodded his head to himself. “You have the advantage of Sleipnir knowing how to use the Bifrost by instinct. Fenrir will want to find his pack, so he shall follow your lead. Jormungand will be easier to convince to come to me since he is on Midgard.” Loki looked at Tony in the eyes as he took his coffee.

“Hel,” He said, his voice soft, “She shall not want to leave with ease,” Tony looked at the grip the god had on the mug, seeing his knuckles becoming white. Tony slowly reached over to take the mug from his hands before he broke it. “She will fight you, she will try to take you into her Kingdom if you threaten her.”

“I wouldn’t threaten a child,” Tony said to the father. Loki shook his head with a sad smile, eyes remorseful.

“Threaten as scare her, Tony.” Loki said to the man, “She will fear any living creature who comes into her Kingdom, she might toy with your mind, trying to figure out what you are and what you could do to her. Hel might hide from you so her creatures can trap you.”

“So it is going to be a life or death game of hide and seek-tag?” Loki growled at Tony.

“Take this seriously, Tony,” Loki said to him, “All of my children have the capacity to kill you if they so desire. If you threaten them, in any way, they will not hesitate to harm and kill you. They trust only me, and even that is limited since I haven’t seen them in centuries.” Tony nodded, lowering his eyes to the angry god. Loki deflated a bit and gripped the back of Tony’s hair on the nape of his neck, stroking it slowly. “I know you mean well, but this will not be easy.” Loki stood, holding his hand out for Tony to take.

“We need to start your training,” Tony smirked at the god, taking the offered hand, standing.

“Jarvis, rush the finishing on the New York Location, NYL, I don’t care what it takes, make sure it is done as quickly as possible.” He said as the god lead him away from the kitchen.

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis responded.

“What the hell just happened?” Clint asked when the two of them were out of earshot. Natasha smirked as she collected her plate, Tony and Loki’s to put them in the dishwasher.

“And they call you a spy,” She muttered when she walked back to the archer.

“It seems we are going to have to prepare for children,” Phil said, smiling a bit. “I need to catch up on Supernanny.”

“Those kids are going to be mothered enough, Phil,” Bruce said from the kitchen table, finishing the rest of his coffee. “It also seems that we are going to be getting another Stark-SafeHouse. Bruce rolled his eyes at Tony’s antics as he thought about the Hulk Habitat.

*

“How can I picture something that I have never seen?” Tony asked, frustrated by the lack of anything happening with practicing picturing Asgard. The two of them have been at it for hours, Loki trying different ways to describe Asgard and where to put Tony, the stone kept away from the both of them as they practiced.

“I have described it numerous ways, Tony,” Loki said, sounding equally frustrated at the lack of results on Tony’s part. “You will need to picture Asgard, get to the Royal Stables, free Sleipnir, then free Fenrir.” Tony opened his mouth to protest on the wolf's location, but Loki cut him off. “My son is on Asgard, in the…less desirable of places.” He sneered at describing the location his other son was in. “Sleipnir will be able to lead you there if you cannot picture the place that I have described numerous times.”

Tony groaned, his hands running through his hair. “It would be easier if I could see the place.”

“I told you that I do not possess the magic to do so.” His hands slowly rubbing his stomach. “Both the healing and the fact that I am pregnant effect my magic.” He closed his eyes, standing to approach the man who was trying so hard to help his family.

“I think that is enough for tonight,” Loki said, rubbing the man’s temple. “Go make me dinner, human,” Loki ordered Tony. Tony chuckled, hugging Loki to him, breathing in his own scent on the god. Tony squished the possessive streak that purred at the thought of Loki smelling like him.

“What do you want to eat?” He asked. Loki pulled Tony away from the Lab and to the kitchen.

“Something with meat, bloody and fresh.”

“So, burgers?” Tony said. When Loki looked at him, cocking his head in confusion, Tony nodded his head. “Okay, burgers.” Tony stopped in the middle of the hallway and cursed. “This means I have to go to the grocery store.” Tony cursed again. “You stay here, shower, I’ll get the food.”

“Ah,” Loki said stepping forward, hands on Tony’s hips, “You are going to hunt for me?” Tony willed himself to not think of anything overly dirty at the way the god purred to him.

“I’ll be the breadwinner,” He muttered, giving the god an Eskimo kiss, them pulling away from Loki to catch the elevator.

*

Finding decent parking in New York was a pain in the ass, even if you were Tony Stark. And Tony knew that he couldn’t just take the suit and hope the bags would hold all the items in their plastic as he flew with the suit. He tried that once, and it would never happen again.

The cashier didn’t even question him as he purchased ten pounds of organic beef, two pounds of cheese, numerous potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce heads and hamburger buns. That was the good thing about New York, there were crazy people everywhere so crazy things were to be expected and ignored.

Tony had two full carts of food ranging from ice cream to pop tarts to coffee to toilet paper. _Domestic,_ a thought hissed at him. Tony rolled his eyes at the thought as the man pushed his cart to one of the more ‘shady’ parts of the city that had parking. It wasn’t uncommon for people to park two blocks from the grocery store so they wouldn’t have to pay for parking. Walking with the shopping cart for two blocks could be a bitch, but Tony ignored the sneers and jibes that people gave him.

Tony loaded his car with the food, bags stacked on top of one another in an organized fashion. He closed the trunk and made his way back to the nearest cart home.

He pushed the cart into the home with the other carts. When the cart crashed into another, he heard a louder crash. Immediately on alert, he pulled his watch to expose his blasters that wrapped around his wrist. He listened for more sounds, straining his ears for whatever crashed as his cart did.

That was when he heard strained whining, like a dog that had been kicked but held a more human tone. Tony rushed forward, following the sounds of the hurt person. He turned a corner and saw a red leg lying to the side. Following the leg, he found two people in red.

One was Deadpool, who was pointing a gun at Tony as he stood over another one, favoring his right leg and shoulder, bullet holes slowly closing in front of him. Tony looked down at the person he was defending.

It was the Spider kid that Tony had been searching for as a side project when he wasn’t doing Avenger to god tasks.

“He didn’t do anything,” Deadpool said, sounding like he was hyperventilating under his mask. Tony raised his gauntlets, turning off the power to them.

“I figured that.” He said carefully, gauging Deadpool’s reaction. Deadpool looked like he was going to say something more, but the Spider kid whined again, chest looking like it was struggling to breathe.

“He needs medical attention,” Tony said, taking a step forward. Deadpool fired a shot at Tony, in front of his next step, stopping him from moving any closer. Tony was about to curse at the man, but held his tongue, knowing it would not help the situation.

“Don’t you dare come any closer,” Deadpool threatened.

“I won’t let SHIELD get you,” Tony promised. “But he needs help, or he will die. A person shouldn’t sound like that, Spider Powers or not.” Tony said. He took a deep breath, keeping his hands up and exposed as he took a small step forward. “I won’t let SHIELD get him either. Trust me, you’ll both be safe.”

“How can we trust you?” Deadpool said, the holes in his body healed, bullets nowhere to be seen.

“Because if you do not,” Tony said, pointing to the Spider kid, “he will die.” Deadpool seemed to stiffen, then looked down at the man he was standing over. He quickly put his gun in one of his many holsters and hoisted the kid into his arms. Tony turned and ran to his car, pulling his phone out and dialing Bruce.

“What could possibly have happened at the grocery store?” Bruce asked. Tony opened his car door, slamming it shut as Deadpool piled himself in the car, keeping Spiderman tight in his arms.

“I’ve got an injured Spider kid, it's bad and I don’t know what happened.” Tony pulled the phone away from his ear as Bruce cursed, putting a hand on the ear piece that held Jarvis.

“Get me to the tower as quickly as possible. Stop lights to get me there,” He ordered. Jarvis didn’t respond as Tony pulled out of the parking lot.

“Can you ask him what happened?” Bruce said on the phone. Tony looked in the rearview mirror to look at Deadpool, who was keeping pressure on the kid’s abdomen.

“I can’t remember what happened,” Deadpool said. “And I didn’t even get shot in the head.” He growled.

“No. He’s unconscious.” Tony said. “I’ve got Deadpool here with me.” He told Bruce. He ignored the hiss from Deadpool and Bruce as he turned illegally to make his way back to the tower.

“Bruce, come on, trust me,” Tony said to the man on the other side of the phone.

“Get him here, Tony,” Bruce said. “I’ll have everything ready by the time that you get here.” Tony nodded his head, turning again.

“Eta, two minutes.” He said. “Get someone to bring the groceries up, too.”

The next two minutes went in a blur of streetlights, honking horns and small whines from the Spider kid. Tony could hear Deadpool muttering sweet things to the man that was in his lap as he pressed deeply into his stomach.

Tony parked nearest to Bruce, who was with a medical bed with Phil, Steve, and Natasha. Tony got out of the car, Steve opening the door to help Deadpool get Spiderman out of the car. When Spiderman was on the table, Bruce began pushing the bed, adding wires to the kid's chest to monitor his heartbeat. Bruce lead the table to the elevator, slamming on the button that would take them to the medical bay, Deadpool and Tony helping him push the bed along.

Steve cursed at the amount of blood that was soaking into the sheets.

“Whatever that bitch stabbed him with is preventing him from healing the wound.” Deadpool cursed around the other Avengers. “He’s been bleeding for two long, but it seems that his blood is still replenishing at its rate.” He told the doctor.

“What do you remember?” Phil asked as the door opened and they all ran out of the elevator to the room.

“The last thing we remember is getting a late lunch at a Mexican cart. Then we fell into that ally.”

They all made it to the Medical bay, Tony holding Deadpool back as the doctors in the ward took Spiderman and Bruce.

“He’ll be okay,” Tony told the man. “I’ve seen what he can do, he’ll survive this.”

*

It was Natasha that brought up the groceries and stored them where they were supposed to go. Deadpool, who asked to be called Wade as he paced the floor, had yet to say anything other than how to address him.

Loki joined Tony in the kitchen, watching silently as Tony began to make dinner, putting a calming sense to his mind.

Tony seasoned and prepared the food, set up the grill and the table, but could still feel the anxiety wrapped around his body like ropes. Loki hugged him from behind tightly, silent in trying to keep Tony from falling too deeply into his thoughts.

Tony fought against the embrace for a moment, then relaxed. The two of them stood together for another minute, then Tony pulled away with a thankful smile. Tony finished chopping the potatoes, onions, tomatoes and lettuce feeling less anxious than he did before.

When Tony dropped the fries in the oil, he saw Bruce looking tired but pleased.

“He’s all healed now.” Tony let go of a long breath that he had been holding for what felt like hours. “There was a cell regeneration serum that I’ve never seen before that was counteracting his own skin and muscular healing, but not the blood healing.” Bruce went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, drinking half of it. “The blood healing factor is what kept him from dying. Wade had traces of the same cell regeneration serum in his blood, but it was nothing concrete.”

Tony nodded once, flipping the burgers on the grill.

“Is he up?” Tony asked, voice sounding worn to even himself.

“Up, walking, talking, no memory of what happened, mind you, but he is perfectly healthy.” Bruce said, finishing the last of his bottle of water. “he needed his blood to be cleaned before he started to heal. I made an anti-serum that probably helped, but I don’t know if it is anything conclusive to his healing.” Bruce told him.

“Okay,” Tony said, pulling a beer from the fridge, popping the top and taking a sip. “Well, dinner is on in five minutes, wash up then come on down.” He said. Bruce patted Tony on the shoulder as he walked away.

“Jarvis, please inform all the Avengers plus our two guests that dinner is ready.” Tony looked to the god with a smile. “Could you make sure that nothing blows up while I talk to Wade?” He asked. Loki smiled as he moved from his barstool to the grill top.

Tony rinsed his hands quickly and made his way over to where Spiderman and Wade was.

He smiled at how Wade, still bloody and in his suit, cradled the small man, running his hands through his hair.

“Join us for dinner.” Tony insisted to the two of them. “Only rules are to be civil and,” looking at Wade, “no masks at the table.”

“Then it looks like I won’t be eating.” Wade sneered to him, mask lifting to show he was displeased with the rule. Tony rolled his eyes.

“Could you give us a minute, Mr. Stark.” Tony was asked.

“Mr. Stark was my father, kid.” He said, “Call me Tony.”

“Peter Parker,” Spiderman said. “Thank you for saving my life.” Tony rolled his eyes for a second time and left Peter to deal with Wade. Tony made his way back to the kitchen, watching as Natasha served herself, Steve already sitting at the table, Thor half way through a burger, two others on his plate, Bruce eating a salad.

Once everyone was seated, Peter made his way into the kitchen with a slightly awkward Wade trailing behind him in civilian clothes that the two of them pillaged from someplace within the tower.

Everyone fell silent at the two of them entering, looking the kid over then the scared man, then began talking again. Tony watched as Wade seemed confused, Peter whispering something to him, then dragging the ex-hitman to the food that was on the counter.

Peter and Wade sat between the super spies.

“It seems that the young spider is next to the mother spider,” Clint said with a smirk. Peter blushed and lowered his eyes, stiffening.

“Calm down, tiny spider,” Natasha said, patting the kid on the head once. “I’m not going to eat you.”

“Black widows are known to eat their young,” Peter said. Wade looked up, offended at Natasha.

“I’m the only one allowed to eat this spider.” He smirked at the redhead.

“I said to be civil,” Tony said, pointing his knife at Wade. Tony looked over at Steve, who was red in the face. “Goddammit, you broke Steve.”

“Language,” Steve muttered, not moving. Tony gave a half shrug.

“At least that still works,” Tony said. Phil and Bruce each had one hand holding their heads, knowing that the crude humor would only be increasing with their new additions.   


	9. Chapter 9

Tony was surprised that it took as long as it did for Fury to find out he was harboring an ex-mercenary and a Spider Child. Two months of testing both of their blood and no additional results came up as to why Peter couldn’t heal his wounds or what it even was. Tony had Jarvis break through SHIELD’s security walls multiple times to try and find if they had any information.

Two months for SHIELD to discover what he was doing.

“Sir, Director Fury is inbound,” Jarvis told him as he was wiping his hands from rune stone he had been practicing with.

“Naturally,” Tony muttered. Sighing, he walked out of the lab to go find Peter and Wade. “Call my lawyers and tell them to get ready for another SHIELD battle.” He ordered the AI.

“Already done, sir,” Jarvis said. Tony passed through the kitchen, grabbing a mug and filling it with coffee.

“Hey, Tony,” Wade said from one of the couches when he entered the main family room, Peter cuddled against the scared man’s chest. Peter waved to the man when he sat down. “Oh dear,” Wade said, shifting a bit so he could better see Tony but could still support Peter on his body. “You have a serious face on,”

“Fury is on his way,” Tony said after drinking a large amount of coffee. “He is probably going to try to arrest you.”

“What are you going to do, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, trying to get out of Wade’s lap, his only challenge was Wade’s arm holding him hostage. Tony glared at him at the use of his formal name. “Tony?” He changed. Tony nodded.

“Naturally, I’m not going to let him get you,” Tony smirked to the two of them. “He’s already tried to get Loki and, well,” He said, looking out the door to see Loki sitting with Natasha, a good sized baby bump on his stomach.

“Smitten!” Wade shouted, lifting both his hands in the air to point them at Tony. He whined when Peter escaped and attached himself to a different chair. Tony was going to say something regarding what Wade was talking about, but Jarvis interrupted,

“Sir, Director Fury is requesting entry,”

“Requesting or demanding?” Tony asked with a growl as he stood.

“As of now, requesting,” Tony drank the remaining half mug of his coffee as he walked to the kitchen. “Let him in,” Tony said, washing the mug and placing it in the dishwasher. Tony could hear Fury’s boots nearing him. Smirking, he walked over to Loki, placed one arm around his waist to hoist the tall god to his chest. Running the other hand to grip Loki’s locks, he kissed the god deeply.

Loki, not one to be outshone, gave as good as he got, biting Tony’s lip, knowing that Director Fury was watching.

“Stark!” He shouted to break the two of them up. Tony and Loki pulled their lips from each other, hands staying possessive on each other.

“You shouldn’t tempt me, Anthony,” Loki growled at him before letting his hands fall. Natasha rolled her eyes, cursing in Russian at the two of them. She stood and walked away from the three of them, muttering in Russian.

“Go,” Tony said, nodding his head to where the redhead walked. Loki rolled his eyes but did as Tony said. Watching the god (sashaying his hips to tease Tony) leave, he turned back to the man in black.

“To what do I owe this displeasure?” Tony smiled.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the two murders that are living in your tower?” Tony hummed at his question, walking past the man to sit on the couch.

“That depends on which murders you are talking about? Thor? He’s out getting ice cream with Steve. The Hulk, well, he’s with Bruce, as you know, also getting ice cream to make sure they are not having problems with technology.” He pointed to the door, “Natasha just walked out of here, Loki following, Clint is probably in the vents and I am right here,” He said, hands making a revealing gesture to himself.

“You know exactly who I am referring to, Mr. Stark,” Fury growled, standing in front of him. Tony held up one finger, a smirk on his face.

“I can understand Wade, but what did Peter do?” Tony didn’t like the smirk that was growing on Fury’s face. He reached into his pocket to pull out a phone and showed footage of Spiderman shooting a web out to try and catch a falling girl.

“He broke her spine.” Fury growled. Tony took a deep breath and stood.

“Did that look like murder?” He asked Fury. “It looked like he was trying to save that girl.”

“Then what about Wade?” Fury asked. “What’s your excuse for him?”

“What’s your excuse for me?” Tony asked, pacing around the Director with a dark smile. “Your excuse for Natasha? Clint? Bruce? Thor?” Tony stopped when he was in front of the Director again. “They, we, are assets to your little project to save the earth.” He took a step back from Fury. “You need us, we don’t need you.”

Tony turned his back to the director and walked back to the kitchen to get another mug and fill it with coffee.

“They are going to be added to the Avengers list,” Tony said, turning back to lean against the fridge, one leg relaxed.

“Or what?” Fury asked. Tony stayed silent, knowing that it would be better to do so. Fury stood there for another minute, body stiff and annoyed with the man. Tony was relaxed, knowing damn well that Fury couldn’t do anything.

Fury turned around, walking out of the room to the elevator and taking it down to his black car.

“Call off my lawyers, Jarvis,” Tony spoke to the ceiling.

“Thank you, Tony,” Wade said from one of the doors, Peter standing on the other side of the door. “You didn’t have to do that,” Wade said.

“You’re right,” Tony told the two of them. “But if you are Avengers, then you get paid for your work, semi-good benefits as well as this awesome tower,” Tony said, flaring the hand that did not have the mug.

“You’re right, how could I forget I live in a god’s tower,” Wade said with an eye roll.

“Speaking of gods,” Tony said, looking back at the door that Loki disappeared to.

“Oh, you’re going to get laid!” Wade said lewdly. Peter slapped Wade in the chest with a glare. Tony rolled his eyes as he turned to walk out of the room to try and find his god.

Tony figured that he would be in his own room. Possessiveness curled in his stomach at the thought of the god in his sheets.

Neither of them had done anything other than kiss, to then go to the bathroom to take care of things. Loki spooked the first time that Tony had lifted the god's shirt to try and expose his chest. Tony lowered the shirt, not wanting to push his god to do anything that he didn’t want.

In truth, it was getting difficult for Tony to control his libido from doing something stupid. But he was not an animal anymore. Tony promised that he would be taking it at Loki’s pace, not his dicks.

Tony was surprised to find that the god was not in his room, reading, napping or fawning over the baby in his stomach.

Tony jumped when he felt hands wrap around his waist from behind. A body pressed up against him and the god nibbled on his ear.

“You made your god very, _very_ horny.” He said darkly, hands dipping below the shirt he had on to rub against the hairs that rested there. Tony tipped his head back, succumbing to the hormones that raced through his body.

“You should know better than to tempt a pregnant god,” Loki said, licking the offered neck he was given. “You have been so good to me,” He said, trailing his lips to the shell of his ear, pulling Tony closer to him so he could feel the god’s hardness.

“You have taken it slow,” he rubbed deeper into Tony’s pants. Tony let out a shuddering breath, grinding back to the god to try and make him groan, the baby bump preventing him from getting too close. “Oh, _Anthony,”_ He said, voice dripping with want. “please, drop the slowness for both of our sakes and allow me to _fuck you.”_ He growled in his ear as the god’s hands slipped out of his pants to cup him through them. “You haven’t been touched since you broke up with the woman,” the god said, pushing Tony to his bed, shutting the door as he walked the two of them over to the dark sheets.

“Loki, don’t,” Tony moaned when he was tossed on the bed, turning over so he could look at the dark-haired god. “don’t do this for me.” Loki crawled up Tony’s body, slowly rocking his hips against Tony’s, laughing low.

“I am a very selfish god,” He leaned down and bit into Tony’s neck, pulling on Tony’s hair so he could have more skin to bite on. “I am doing this for me.” He whispered into one ear. He lifted his head up, grinning at Tony, then moved to the other side of his neck, giving him a matching mark. “You are going to take so much pleasure from my selfishness.” The god said in his other ear.

“Loki,” Tony moaned, one hand gripping the sheets, the other trying to scratch him through the shirt he wore. Tony leaned his head over to kiss the god, tongue dipping into the god’s mouth, tracing the seam of his lip before delving in to rub against the god on top of him. Tony put his other hand in the god’s hair, scratching his scalp.

“Loki,” He said when he could breathe. “Please don’t do this for me.” He arched his back when Loki bit him higher on his neck. Loki pulled off his neck, lips swollen and shiny from their kissing.

“If you are so concerned about forcing me into something that I do not want,” He said, stopping his grinding to hover above the man, “then I will quell your fears.” Loki reached his one hand down to Tony’s pants to grab the rune stone.

Loki lifted it his lips, eyes closed and muttered something to it that Tony could not understand. The stone glowed green for a moment, then extended to Tony. The rune stone brightened for a moment, then remained its normal, stagnant state.

“What did you do?” Tony asked when Loki placed the stone on the bedside table. Loki came back to him with a gleeful grin on his face that had Tony gulping.

“You are aware that my child prevents me from using magic. That stone allows you to use magic to assist me. Therefore, I can ask to use it.” He explained as his nimble fingers began to undo the buttons on his shirt.

“Do you trust me, Anthony?” He asked, grin still in place. “It does far more than break down things to their baser forms.” Loki licked his lips slowly. Tony knew that the god was up to something, but would agree regardless.

“Yes.” He said. Once the word left his mouth, he felt his clothes vanish from his body and his arms and legs being stretched to each corner of the bed. He moaned at the feeling of the cold air touching his naked flesh, Loki’s clothing rubbing against his thighs and cock.

Tony opened his eyes to see that his wrists were cuffed to the headboard with rich looking leather.

“Oh god,” Tony moaned, Loki, the bastard, smiling down at him.

“See?” He said, rubbing Tony’s cheek, “there is no way for you to give what I do not want.” He reached over to the bed stand and opened the drawer, rooting for the lube. “It seems that males are the same, no matter where they hail from,” Loki said, putting the lube on the bed. He dipped down for another kiss, claiming Tony’s mouth by sweeping his tongue across Tony’s

One of Loki’s hands came up to tease around Tony’s right nipple as he kissed Tony. Loki pulled his head away from Tony to let him breathe. Loki pinched hard on Tony’s nipple, making him cry out and pull at the cuffs that held him hostage.

“Loki,” he moaned.

“Such pretty sounds.” Loki dipped his head down to suck and bite on the other as he pinched the one in his hand. “I am going to have you screaming my name.”

“Loki,” Tony said when the god switched off nipples, torturing them as the man could only thrash from pleasure. “Clothes,” he panted as he bucked a second time. “clothes off, Loki, please.” Tony whimpered. Loki pulled his teeth, nipple caught between them as he slowly raised his head.

“How quickly I have broken you down,” He said as he got off the bed, Tony whimpering at the lack of the god on him. Tony watched as the god, slowly removed his shirt, letting it fall on the side of the bed, his pants joining. Loki thumbed at his underwear for a moment, then slid them off.

 The god ran his hands down his stomach, past the baby bump to his cock to stroke it once, a smirk on his face as Tony moaned when all he could do was watch. Loki lowered his hand and crawled back on Tony, lips against the side of Tony’s neck.

“Do you have any doubts now?” Loki asked, his hand tracing the hair near Tony’s cock, stimulating him, but not giving him anything that he needed.

“No,” Tony said, turning his head to catch the god’s lips. Tony could feel Loki smirking into the kiss. His cock was wrapped in lean fingered hands and began slowly stroking. Tony threw his head back, not ready for the contact.

“So responsive,” Loki laughed, sitting up and grabbing the lube bottle with one hand as he slowly moved down Tony’s body. Loki pulled his hand off Tony’s cock to uncap the bottle and put lube on his fingers.

Tony lifted his legs to bend at the knee so Loki could do what he wanted to his body.

“Oh Tony,” Loki said darkly, kissing the inside of his thigh, reaching one finger to tease at his hole. “You please me greatly,” he said, still circling his hole.

“Please, Loki,” Tony said, pushing his hips closer to the finger that was promising his pleasure, pulling at the bonds on his wrists. Loki laughed low in his throat as he pushed his finger into the man, slowly pulling it back out to circle and repeat.

As Loki dragged his fingers on the inside of Tony’s walls, his teeth began marking the inside of his legs with dark hickeys. Loki added a second finger, Tony hissing, body arching at the pleasure of being further stretched.

Loki twisted his fingers, mind intent on finding that one spot that would drive his human to and past the brink. Tony’s chest lifted and fell quickly, but swelled when Loki found the spot.

“There it is,” Loki said, putting one finger against it and pressing down deeply.

“Holy fuck, Loki,” Tony cursed. “Shit,” He cursed again as Loki put his second finger against it and rubbed in circles. “Oh, fuck, Loki, please, please,” Tony pleaded, not sure if his body wanted more of his fingers on his prostate or stretching him further to prepare him for his cock.

“You are such a beautiful offering,” Loki said, pulling his fingers away from Tony’s spot to add a third finger.

“Not as,” Tony stuttered as the third finger entered him, “as you,” he finished, arching his back when Loki fanned his fingers out to stretch him as wide as he could, then pumping into him slowly.  

“Flattery will get you everywhere, darling,” Loki whispered to Tony’s lips, stealing another kiss as he continued to be prepared. “One day, I am going to bend you over your work bench and pound into you until you faint from the pleasure when you choose to overwork yourself.” He told the man. “I am going to throw your legs over my shoulders and have my way with you, coming into you until I tire, and only then, will you be allowed to find the release you so desire.”

“Shit, Loki,” He said, cock twitching at the dirty talk. Loki pulled his head away from Tony, fingers still pumping in the man tied to the bed. He took a moment to pull two fingers out of Tony, the single finger brutalizing his prostate, taking joy in watching the man pull at his bonds, curse the emptiness inside him as the single finger raked against him.

“Tony,” Loki moaned, finding the erotic pushing of Tony to his fingers more arousing than he thought it would. He could see the pulse in Tony’s neck, throbbing against one of the pink marks on his neck. His cock dripping pre-come onto his stomach, hole shiny and clenching against the only finger it had in it.

“Please, Loki, oh god, please, fuck me,” Loki shuddered at Tony’s pleas, for a moment thinking about thrusting into his heat to take the pleasure he desired, but refrained for seeing Tony struggle in his pleasure.

“Anthony,” Loki moaned, grinning at the moan Tony gave at the use of his name. “You are beautiful, your arch to my touch,” he emphasized his point by pulling his single finger to quickly cross one over the other then push back into his body, watching the back arch as much as it could despite the bonds. “You moan my name so erotically, your heart beating pleasure around your body as it begs for me to stimulate you more.” Loki closed his eyes, hands not stilling as he inhaled the scent of sex, sweat and the deeper scents of pheromones Tony was releasing into the air.

“Even your scent begs for me to fill you with my cock, wreck your hole and fill you with my seed.” He reached for the bottle, wanting to satisfy his need now. He slicked his cock and crawled on top of Tony, tossing one leg over his shoulder so it would better accommodate the baby inside him.

“Fuck me, Loki, please,” He begged, turning his head to expose his neck, arms pulling at the bed post.

“I promise you, Anthony,” Loki said, grabbing his own cock and guiding it to his hole, “there will be no walking for you for the remainder of the day,” Loki said into his neck and he pushed in quickly.

Tony arched up, eyes opening wide as Loki’s closed and lowered so he could get deeper into Tony’s body. They held still for a moment, then Loki gave into his desire to fuck his Anthony into the bed.

“Loki, shit, Loki,” Tony moaned as Loki lifted his hips to thrust against Tony’s prostate. Loki bit down on Tony’s exposed arms as he thrust deeply into his human, marking him for everyone to see.

“You have no idea how long I can go for, Anthony,” Loki panted into one of the bite marks he left on his arm. “I am a god, I could do this for _hours,”_ He moaned into Tony’s ear.

Tony closed his eyes, arched his back and came, hips thrusting in an uncoordinated fashion on Loki’s cock. Loki stilled as Tony thrashed against him, not wanting to hurt his human the first time they had sex.

“Don’t you dare,” Tony growled, tightening his one leg that was wrapped around the god’s waist, “you said you were going to use me,” Tony said, bucking his hips to get Loki’s cock against his prostate, breath hitching, “ _use me,”_ Tony moaned.

Loki clenched his teeth, smiled, then grabbed one of Tony’s arms so he could pull Tony’s body into his thrusting. His other hand scratched down the leg thrown over his shoulder to wrap around Tony’s hip to pull him as he thrust.

“Anthony,” He moaned, his hips stuttering as he chased his orgasm.

“Come on, Loki,” Tony moaned, body burning at the feeling of overstimulation, “mark me,” He moaned to the god, “fill me,” Tony smirked for a moment when he heard Loki’s breath hitch. Grinning, he strained as he leaned up to get near Loki’s ear.

“fill me so you can…can watch your come _drip_ from my hole.” Loki roared at Tony, pushing the man back on the bed and bit down high on Tony’s neck. Tony panted as pain laced in his neck at the bite being placed, pleasure complimenting the pain as Loki filled him.

Loki’s body stilled, his teeth still clenched against the skin of his neck. Loki pulled his teeth away, licking at the wound he created in apology, one arm pulling Tony’s leg off his shoulder, then pulling the bonds off his wrists.

“If you do not have something to keep my come in you, I will remain here,” Loki told Tony, eyes black with passion. Tony panted, turning his head to the bed stand.

“Bottom drawer.” Tony finally said. He marveled at the way Loki moved his body, two months pregnant and all to reach for the bottom draw without completely slipping from his hole.

“You have many interesting things in this drawer,” Loki said when he pulled a simple plug from the drawer. He pulled himself out of Tony and slipped the plug into Tony, pushing it a bit deeper to hear Tony his.

“We should get cleaned up,” Tony said, though, not making any movement to get out from the bed.

“Later,” Loki said, wrapping Tony into his arms for one of the last times due to the soon swelling of his womb. “I very much enjoy seeing you covered in our joined pleasure, but that could be a trait of my people.” He muttered, placing a kiss to Tony’s hair, petting his back until the two of them fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not sure where that came from...
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed.


	10. Picture Perfect

****

Part of Tony’s training was beyond the seeking mental clarity so that he could teleport safely. A large part of his training was physical as well. Loki insisted that he would not be able to withstand the harsh conditions that could come across his way as he searched for his children.

For the first three week, Tony whined and moaned when he trained with Steve and Natasha. His body was bruised, sore and generally exhausted. Pepper was no longer giving him the cold shoulder- which lead to her bitching about not being in meetings.

Tony’s time was strained between keeping the board and the public happy by attending certain meetings and putting out new products, protecting the Avengers from Fury, sleeping, sex, a steady relation with Loki and now training.

The first three weeks were rough on Tony: mentally, physically and emotionally. His body was only used to a large toll when he was fighting people that popped up that needed to be taken care of, so the daily training had sapped him of his energy. Naps were required, no exceptions of where or what he was doing- even if it was during an interview.

After many awkward interviews regarding his relationship with Loki when Fury leaked a photo of the two sharing a kiss released, the interviews turned from scorn to generable adorableness. Fury’s plan to make the public revolt on the Avengers fail in spectacular proportions. The public was slow to accept that Loki was not completely responsible for the Battle of New York, but Tony released the evidence he gathered after Fury leaked the photo.

The public had a three-day field day; arguing about what was right and wrong, if anything was fabricated and if it was all true. Then the general population began to call Loki a hero, a survivor. The amount of fan mail increased to epic levels with people sending in notes and letters about how they survived rape and feeling being controlled. Notes of encouragement, drawings of Loki with crayon.

The god hid his gratitude well, smiling and smirking as he read some of the letters. Yet, behind closed quarters, Loki cried and thanked the people who sent him encouraging messages.

It was day four that Pepper sent him to four back to back interviews. It was scheduled two hours after a training session with Steve. Steve pulled him along on a run, a three -mile run, insisting that Tony just had to get over a hump before he would find running was a natural act.

Legs sore, Tony put on a smiling face and endured many criticizing questions and comments. With one interview down, he went to a second and did the same thing as the first. The third was similar and by the time he got to the fourth, he could hardly keep his eyes open. While the two interviews were talking amongst themselves, Tony closed his eyes and promptly passed out from the strain of the three-mile run.

The public enjoyed the sleeping Stark, blaming it on Loki tiring him. Tony simply allowed the public to think what they wanted to.

So, Tony trained on. Once he got past that three-week barrier, he found that he had more energy than ever. He slept more soundly than he ever did in his life, but he blamed that on the fact that he had a permanent bed partner who would wear him out before sleep and the comfort of having a person to snuggle up against, not that he would ever admit that. Tony worked more efficiently when he was in the lab- his mind was clearer and he didn’t need the music so loud when he was creating. Tony, when he was awake, didn’t feel the constant need to have six cups of coffee to wake him. To Steve and Bruce’s dismay, he drank more water.

The only problem was- coffee was making him sick since he started training. Every time he would try to drink a glass, his stomach would cramp up and he would become exhausted. Tony made the stupid decision to try and drink coffee past the pain and ended up throwing up the coffee.

But, other than that, Tony was happy with how he was feeling. Training was still a bitch because Steve was…well, Steve and Natasha’s only formidable opponent was Steve because he was stronger, Wade, because he could heal at an unnatural rate and Peter, because he could whip around as much as she could.

The best part of Tony’s new stamina and strength was that he could keep up better with Loki when it came to the bedroom. Tony was more flexible, stronger than he was when they had sex first and could last longer due to the training.

Tony was a very happy person.

*

Tony and Loki were holding hands as they walked through Central Park, both marveling at the beauty of the fall trees.

“Why are the children dressed oddly?” Loki asked as they passed a kid who had a white sheet over his body, holding a pumpkin basket that had candy in it.

“It’s Halloween,” Tony said as they watched the mother laugh as she ran behind her child. “Kids knock on people’s doors and ask for candy.”

“What a strange tradition,” Loki commented, his other hand coming to rest on his baby bump. Tony smiled as they watched the kid go near a person and ask for candy.

“It used to be some sort of offering years ago,” Tony said with a shrug, pulling the two of them back to the main trail they were walking on. Loki and Tony eventually turned around and began walking back to the Tower.

“Hey, Loki?” Tony asked, keeping his eyes forward as he lead the two of them around the city back home. “Do you know what an ultrasound is?”

“No,” Loki said simply, confused as to what it was.

“Well,” Tony began, opening the door for him to enter the tower. “It’s a machine that allows us, humans, to see into our bodies when we are injured.” He pushed the button for the elevator. “I remember, one time, my mother got hurt and they were worried about internal damage, so they performed an ultrasound and found that nothing was wrong.” Tony stepped into the elevator, worrying his hands. “The point I am trying to get across is…” he looked at Loki and stepped closer to him, putting both hands on his womb, “that ultrasounds are typically used to see babies.” Tony looked up when he heard Loki’s breath hitch. “I was wondering if you would like to see the baby.”

Loki was very quiet as the elevator took them to the main floor, his hands slowly coming up to rest on top of Tony’s on his womb.

“You’re telling me that I can see my child before she is born?” Loki asked quietly. Tony nodded quickly. “I would love to meet her before I give birth,” Loki said, smiling brightly. Tony could feel his cheeks hurt as he smiled.

“Bruce knows how to use the ultrasound I have downstairs,” Tony spoke quickly. “It’s never been used for babies, but I’m sure it's easy.” Tony bounced out of the elevator to the kitchen. “I know that you have to drink a lot of water before they can get the picture. Something about bladder inflation,”

“Mama, Tony!” Clint shouted when he saw Tony tossing things on the kitchen counter. “What is for dinner?” He asked, taking a seat next to Loki.

“Beef Stroganoff.” Tony said, pulling pots and pans out. Clint nodded his head.

“Stroganoff for Romanov,” Clint muttered. He hummed and got out of his chair to climb into the vent that was nearest to him. Replacing the vent screen, he looked at the two of them. “I’ll alert the others that dinner is soon.” Loki rolled his eyes when he heard shuffling getting further away.

“How does he manage that?” Loki asked, looking from the vent to Tony. Tony shrugged.

“Do you have any thoughts on the name?” Tony asked as he cut and prepared the beef. Loki got out of his stool and moved behind the counter to help Tony cut the beef.

“No, but a name always comes to me when I give birth to them,” Loki smiled at Tony, leaning over to give him a small kiss.

“Domestic looks good on the two of you,” Steve said, walking into the kitchen with a smile.

“Hello, Captain,” Loki greeted, pulling from Tony so he could leave the cook to do his thing. “I was wondering if you could help me with a task,” Steve’s brow pinched as Loki moved back to the stool.

“With what?” He asked.

“Tony has been training with you for some time, thank you,” He said, “but he fails to picture Asgard well enough to successfully get there,” Loki explained. “I know that you draw and I was wondering if you could draw the picture that I depict so that Tony can see it and get to Asgard successfully.”

“Ah,” Steve said, face pinking a bit. “Sure,” He agreed. He nodded, “yeah, I can do that for you. Do you want to do it now?” Steve asked.

“If you would,” Loki responded. Steve nodded and made his way out of the kitchen to gather his supplies.

“I was getting better,” Tony said to his boyfriend from the other side of the counter as he made the sauce. Loki rolled his eyes, grinning as Steve returned to sit next to Loki.

By the time dinner had been made, Steve had a decent drawing of Asgard, showing the picture to Loki every time he was given a detail to make sure that it was right. Loki was impressed at the skills that the Captain had, the ability to take what he was told and then make it in a physical form without the use of magic.

When Steve showed the picture to Tony once he got approval from Loki. The two of them engaged in playful banter regarding Loki not describing Asgard correctly and Tony not being able to picture it. Clint broke up the banter when he slipped from the vents, telling the two of them that the team was on their way.

Steve, Tony, and Clint had the table set when the others came into the kitchen. Tony pointed to Bruce where his vegetarian version of the meal was as the other served themselves.

Halfway through dinner, Tony felt his phone vibrate. Pulling it from his pocket, he saw a message from Jarvis.

 **THE NEW YORK LOCATION IS READY FOR INHABITANTS, SIR.** Tony smiled at the ceiling for a second, trying a ‘thanks’ to the AI.

“Hey, Bruce, could we fire up the ultrasound tonight?” Tony asked, rubbing Loki’s womb carefully.

“Oh, man, you are going to have to pee like a racehorse by the time you are done with that,” Wade said from the end of the table to Loki.

“I do not understand this saying,” Thor said from next to him. Peter leaned closer to the table so he could explain what an ultrasound was and how it worked.

“Sure,” Bruce said, chewing a mushroom slowly, “I’ll need you to drink about thirty-two ounces of water in an hour and then I can look at the baby.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Loki said, helping himself to a third helping of the food Tony made him. Thor stood up with him, serving himself his fifth helping. Loki had yet to figure out how he ate so quickly without dying.

Two hours after dinner was finished, Loki was laying on one of the medical beds with the paper sheet on his stomach, Tony sitting on the chair next to him as Bruce got one of the machines running.

“Have you thought about how you are going to birth your child?” Bruce asked, putting on rubber gloves.

“Naturally,” Loki said, watching each movement that Bruce made, feeling nervous at the exposure.

“Don’t worry,” He said. He held up a bottle with a nozzle on it. “This will be cold,” He told the god as he lifted the sheet up and squirted the clear liquid on his abdomen. Bruce reached for the wand and put some lube on it.

“Your other children,” Bruce asked as he twisted a part of the wand, “were there any complications?”

“Other than Sleipnir’s extra legs,” Loki laughed a bit, sadness and hope creeping into him, “No. I doubt there will be any complications with this one.” Bruce nodded and put the wand on Loki’s large stomach. Bruce was the only one who could see the screen as he moved the wand across Loki’s womb, pausing in certain places to hit a couple keys or move the mouse to click on something.

“Is everything okay?” Loki asked quietly when Bruce tilted his head and got closer to the screen. Bruce nodded.

“She is already growing hair,” he commented moving the wand around him again. Loki flinched a bit when the wand pushed down on his bladder. The urge to use the bathroom was there, but under control, until he pushed on it.

“Wade was right,” Loki gritted to Tony when Tony squeezed his hand.

“Only a couple more minutes,” Bruce promised, pushing down on his stomach. Loki cursed in Norse, eyes closing in concentration. Bruce pushed further on his stomach, then stopped, removing the wand and wiping Loki’s stomach off and telling him he could go to the bathroom.

By the time that Loki came back from using the bathroom, Bruce had printed off three pictures for the couple.

Loki took the photo with shaking hands. The child was small but had some hair growing on her head. She had a tiny nose, small fingers, and a tiny body to compliment her young age.

“She is developing well by human standards,” Bruce said, “She looks fully human, too.”

“She’s beautiful,” Tony said in awe, hugging Loki from behind, peering around the god’s shoulder to look at the child in his womb. Loki wiped one of the tears away from his eye.

“Thank you, Bruce,” Loki said in a whisper. Bruce smiled at the two of them as he cleaned up the machine. Loki and Tony remained in the room as Bruce left, the two of them gazing at the photo.

“We’re having a baby, Anthony,” Loki said, turning to sweep the human into his arms and kiss him. Tony smiled into the kiss, rubbing his thumb against the nape of the god’s neck. When Tony pulled his lips away from Loki’s he laughed a bit awkwardly. Loki turned his head a bit, questioning what made Anthony feel nervous.

“What is it, Anthony?” Loki asked. Tony blushed a bit, putting his hands on the child.

“I’m not her father Loki,” He said, “but you can be sure as hell that I’ll care for her, for all your kids.” Loki smiled kindly at the man, raising his hand to cup his cheek.

“You have been here for us, every step,” Loki said, kissing the man’s head, “She is your child as much as she is mine, Anthony,” Loki kissed Tony again.

“Loki,” Tony said when they pulled away. “Jarvis told me that the New York Location is ready. We can move there as soon as we want.” He said, looking between the photo and the god. “If you think I’m ready, I can get your kids,” Tony said.

Loki responded by kissing Tony deeply.

“We cannot rush your training,” Loki said when he pulled away. “But can we go there, to set up for my children?” Loki asked, voice practically begging.

“We can leave tomorrow,” Tony said to him. “I’ll have to come back here for meetings and things, but we can get settled tomorrow, Loki.”

“Now that you have a picture of what Asgard looks like, you will be ready in a few days, I imagine.” Loki said, smiling brightly.

“We’ll get them back, Loki, I promise.” Tony said, the two of them looking at the photo that Bruce took with smiles on their faces.


	11. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have another chapter.

Tony bid farewell to the Avengers and Phil, who would forever have his own category in Tony’s eyes. Tony received many good lucks from the team, each knowing what he was about to do could very well kill him.

Tony could see that each person was nervous in their own way. Clint hid in the vents until Tony climbed in to pull him out, promising him muffins the next time he saw the archer. Natasha actually hugged him, muttering in Russian. Steve told him that he wasn’t allowed to die yet. Peter was jumpy, Wade paced, and Phil used his first name. Tony could see that the person who was the most nervous was Bruce. He was silent when Tony told the team that he would be going to the New York Location and not returning for a couple months.

Tony promised him that he would return, giving the scientist a hug.

Thor promised that should Tony need help, he would provide it.

That was three hours ago. Tony smiled at the sleeping Loki in the passenger seat. He often forgot how big the state of New York was until he had to drive somewhere. Jarvis told him that they only had about an hour before they made it to the manor that he bought.

He turned onto more quiet roads and then to a large iron gate. Jarvis opened the gate inward and he drove onto his property for the first time.

The two of them were a half hour from their actual home, but Tony bought the lake that was near the house and a half hours worth of forest. There was enough space for a Hulk, a large serpent, an eight-legged horse, and a massive wolf to roam if they wanted to. The territory outside of the half-hours worth of forest was rarely touched by man since it was so far away from humanity.

The road wasn’t straight, it wrapped around large trees and many thickets. Tony smiled, slowing the car so he could wake Loki.

“We are on the outskirts of the property,” Tony told him. Loki smiled, looking at the trees.

“All of this? It’s yours?” Loki asked, smiling at the trees, no doubt thinking about his kids playing between the trees at night.

“Yes,” Tony said, driving a bit faster. “The land outside of here isn’t really touched by humanity either, so if they go further than the property, then they should be okay”

“I would get used to saying territory,” Loki said to Tony. “They’ll understand you better if you do that, especially Fenrir,” he said.

“How old are your children?” Tony asked Loki. Loki sighed slowly.

“Odin aged their bodies physically. They are still very young. Old enough to talk and walk, not babies, but not teens. When you use the stone, it will take the age off them, except Hel, she can’t have an illusion cast on her or be fooled by one.”

“Well, I have enough money to accommodate four extra god children.” Tony said with a smile, Jarvis telling him he was getting closer.

“Having us god’s under your roof must be expensive,” Loki smirked. Tony rolled his eyes.

“Only when Thor breaks the toaster too many times,” Loki and Tony shared a laugh. The rest of the ride was done in silence until they neared the lake.

“You really thought of everything,” Loki said.

“I know,” Tony said proudly. The manor was tucked around a patch of trees two minutes away from the lake by the road. Tony and Loki got out of the car, stretching from sitting for long hours. Tony pulled out the key and went to the door.

“Home sweet home,” He said, opening the door for Loki.

The manor was built like a chalet. Wood from the exterior built the house up with natural stone complementing the wood. Soft tan carpet floored parts of the ground, dark supple wood floored the rest of the house. A grand staircase was to the left of the house, iron rails holding up a dark wood railing much like the floorboards.

Big windows allowed the light from the day to shine the place, the chandelier not needed or the additional ceiling lights. The furniture was plush, various multicolored blankets draped on the couches and chairs.

“Anthony,” Loki whispered.

“Come on, I haven’t seen this place either,” Tony lead them right, to what became the kitchen and the rest of the large, open family room.

The kitchen had all modern amenities and was fully stocked. The dining room table had sixteen seats and was already set for the first meal that they would have there. In the family room was a very large fireplace that was open to the other side of the house. Tony was glad to see that it was a natural fireplace, the hearth wide enough for a person to sit on it until they became too hot. A large amount of wood was placed on either side of the fireplace, ready for the first time it would be used.

“Tony, this is perfect,” Loki said. Tony laughed lightly, taking his hand, heading them to the staircase.

“We haven’t even seen all of it yet,” Tony said walking up to the upper rooms where the bedrooms were likely to be.

They explored every room before they made it to the Master Bedroom.

The Master Bedroom had a California King in with brown sheets and a white comforter. There was a large window that let the sun in, shielded by lightly colored curtains. The master bedroom was stone and wood, a large tub that looked like it had been carved out of a rock was in the corner, a walk-in shower on the other corner.

One of the best features of the house was a private deck they had. There was a small fireplace that was surrounded by wooden chairs, dark green pillows and black blankets that were draped over the railing. The deck overlooked the lake and the forest that was brightly colored with the fall leaves and a part of the gravel pavement that lead cars to their house.

“Anthony,” Loki said, turning to take the human in his arms, “This is the best gift that I have ever been given,” He said, pulling the human into a deep kiss. Tony bent around the baby bump to grab his hips.

Breaths picked up as the two pawed at each other.

“Anthony,” Loki moaned when Tony moved his head to kiss his neck gently. “Take me,” He moaned. Tony pulled away from his neck.

“Are you sure?” Tony asked, knowing that it was going to be the first-time Loki had penetrative sex since the rape. The two of them didn’t talk about it, but with the baby bump growing, it was getting harder and harder for the two of them to have sex when Loki topped.

“I have never been more sure of anything in my life,” Loki said. Tony took his hand and began to lead him away from the deck, but Loki stayed where he was. “I want you to take me here, outside, facing the lake and the forest, Anthony,” Tony smirked, but pulled his hand again.

“If we are going to have sex with me topping, wouldn’t you rather be in the bed?” Loki pulled his hand away from Tony, turning so he could grab the railing of the deck.

“Once you get my children, we will no longer be able to fuck outdoors,” He said, eyes fiery from the lust that was building. “I want to see what you have done for me as you undo me.” Loki grinned when Tony walked back to the bedroom, looking in one of the drawers, then another, before pulling out one of many bottles.

He walked back to the deck, grabbing the blankets and laying one on the ground, pillows tossed near them. Tony returned to the god and began pulling Loki’s clothes, tossing them to the side of the deck, then his own.

The two, skin chilled from the fall air, began to kiss, Tony bracing his body against the back of Loki’s moving his head down the god’s neck, biting marks into his skin. Tony’s hands reached to squeeze and pinch Loki’s nipples. He moved his teeth to the meat of Loki’s shoulder, biting hard into the god, grinning when the god moaned obscenely.

One hand dipped down from the god’s nipple to his cock, slowly stroking the shaft, twisting then pumping him down. Loki groaned at the feeling.

“I should have let you top earlier,” he panted out when Tony moved his teeth to give the same treatment to the other side of his neck.

“Oh, Loki,” Tony whispered into his ear, “I am going to make you feel so good,” Tony bit his ear lobe, dragging it behind him for a little pain to lace with the pleasure. Tony pinched the nipple in his hand a little harder as he brought his hand down on his cock. Tony laughed darkly when Loki moaned again.

Tony kissed down on his neck as he pulled his hands away from the god to reach for the lube.

He took his time preparing the god, pushing in one finger at a time, making sure he was loose enough to accept another finger without feeling pain, teasing his prostate once he found it. Loki cursed him twice for him to get on with it before Tony slicked himself up and slid into the god.

Their pace was frantic, both searching for release. Tony grinned as he moved one hand from Loki’s hip to grip at the god’s hair, pulling so Loki would look out at the land. Tony panted for a moment, then spoke,

“You are a kinky shit, Loki,” He told the god, please to see him flushed and sweating because of him. “My ass has paid the price for your kinkiness numerous times.” He nibbled on the bite mark he left earlier. “We are going to fuck in the woods someday,” Tony told him. Loki moaned, trying to drop his head at the statement. Tony grinned, giving a hard thrust against Loki’s prostate, making him moan again. “I know that you would love that, hunting me down so you can pin me to the forest floor and have your way with me, my screams being lost in the forest trees.”

“Yes,” Loki said, eyes looking at the forest, bucking his hips back to meet Tony’s thrusts.

“I am going to have my with you in the lake, our bodies causing rifts and waves as we both search for a release, so difficult to find when we will be trying to stay afloat. But we will both love the denial at immediate release as the water moves around us.” Tony growled, hitting Loki’s prostate again.

“One…one winter night,” Loki gasped, “I am going to… to fuck- _fuck,_ you by the fire,” he gasped out, “your tan skin....ah…brightened by the…shit…the glow of the _fire!”_ He shouted when Tony began hitting his prostate repeatedly.

“We are so christening this house tonight,” Tony growled, letting Loki’s hair go to kiss him, reaching down to pull at his cock. Loki moaned when Tony gave a hard thrust accompanied by a rough stroke of his cock.

Both were close, stroking and thrusts becoming more frantic. Tony dropped his head on Loki’s shoulder for a second, gathering his courage. He opened his eyes.

“Loki,” Tony said, the god turning his head. Tony kissed him quickly, pulling away. “Loki,” He said again, “I love you,” Loki tossed his head back, coming on Tony’s hand, ass clenching on Tony’s cock, throwing him into his own orgasm.

Tony caught Loki when his knees began to buckle, pulling out and taking one of the blankets to wrap around the god to keep him warm. Tony chuckled when Loki leaned on Tony as he lead him to the bedroom.

 Loki stopped Tony as he began to put him down on the bed.

“Did you mean that? Really?” Loki asked. Tony smiled kindly at the scared face he had on.

“Of course,” Tony said, kissing him again. Loki’s eyes shone brightly.

“I love you, Anthony.” He said. “Now, about christening the house,” He grinned, dropping the blanket and walking naked out of the room, Tony following him out of the bedroom, watching him walk down the stairs to the kitchen, bending over one of the counters. Tony shuddered as he made his way down the stairs, body ready to go a second round.

*

“Are you ready?” Loki asked when Tony held the expertly drawn picture that Steve gave the two of them.

“Yes,” Tony said. He was dressed in one of the tight suits he wore under the suit, a knife attached to his left hip, a gun to his right. Loki reached in one of his pockets and pulled out a silver broach.

“Thor stole this from Asgard the last time he went,” Loki said before handing it over to Tony. “Show this to Sleipnir and he shall allow you to mount him. From there, hold on, he will run faster than any car can take you.” Loki said, smirking, “ask him to take you to Fenrir.”

“From there,” Tony said with a nod, putting the broach in one of the zip pockets, “I’ll use the stone to change them to their more human form and pull them back to earth, back here, then I’ll get Jor.”

“Odin will likely send warriors to intercept you at Jormungand’s prison. Once you mount Sleipnir, no Asgardian technology can catch up to him. This leaves you a window to get Fenrir back here. Be prepared for a fight. I talked to Thor about protecting you if need be on Earth.” Loki said. He turned the stone in his hand several times before passing it off to Tony.

Loki hugged him tightly, Tony returning it.

“Don’t be taken away from me,” He prayed. “Please come back to me.” He said.

“I promise, I will,” he said. Tony freed himself from Loki’s embrace and picked up the picture of the stables that Steve drew for the two of them.

He closed his eyes and thought about going there, in one piece. He felt the stone get cold in his hand, opening his eyes, he grinned at Loki as the glow wrapped around his legs, arms, and neck, coldness creeping around him. He closed his eyes again and thought of the Asgardian Stables.

The world brightened around him, his stomach felt like it tore a hole in itself as he was tossed and pulled to a new realm. Tony crashed on hay covered ground, coughing roughly.

Tony panted harshly, hearing shouts in a different language and footsteps running frantically. Tony grabbed the stone and thought about being invisible. The stone flashed around his skin, leaving gold and green glitter on him. He held his breath, scrambling out of the way as gold armored guards ran past him, shouting and pointing.

When the commotion lessened, Tony stood and looked in each stall, finding the eight-legged horse four stalls in. The horse was a beautiful dapple, four of its legs cocked in a resting position, head hanging low, eyes blinking slowly. His withers were taller than any horse that Tony had seen; the withers were about six inches taller than Tony was. Tony reached into his pocket, pulling the broach out and unlocking the stall.

The horse perked up, ears going back and tail swishing. Tony thought of the stone dropping the invisibility. The horse reared when he saw Tony.

“Sleipnir, Loki sent me,” He whispered, looking over his shoulder for guards. Tony showed the horse the broach when the horse stopped rearing and screaming in his horse way. Sleipnir’s ears were still pinned back as he reached his head forward to inspect the broach Tony held.

“I’m here to bust you and your brother, Fenrir out of here and get you to your mother,” He said in a hushed tone. Tony cursed as he heard people approaching him. Tony closed the door quickly, locking himself in with Loki’s son. Sleipnir watched him carefully, two of his front hooves stomping on the ground in annoyance.

Tony pressed himself against the stall wall and was going to whisper for the stone to make him invisible, but the horse moved so he was against the stall, stomach hanging over Tony’s head.

 _Oh, Christ._ Tony thought, refusing to move as heard the footsteps getting closer to the stall.

There were two of them, voices angrily speaking to one another. Tony spared a glance to see that Sleipnir had his ears back so closely to his head, it looked like he didn’t have any. His teeth were bared and he brayed at the two guards when they came close to the stall they were both in. Tony cringed when he heard metal crash against metal. There was a tense moment, but then the guards walked away.

The horse snorted, then walked around Tony so he would not be crushed.

 _You know mother?_ A voice said. Tony looked up at Sleipnir, his horse ears pointed forward and nose close.

“Yes,” Tony said quietly, lifting the broach to Sleipnir for the second time. Sleipnir sniffed at the broach, then whinnied. Tony shushed him, peering up and looking at the stable, seeing that only the horses perked up at Sleipnir’s happiness.

 _Let’s get out of here, human._ Sleipnir said. Tony nodded once.

Sleipnir pawed at the ground numerous times, kicking the straw up to his back legs.

“Do you have anything tethered to you that would alert Odin I am stealing you?” Tony asked, crawling closer to the door.

_Yes, but only royalty can untether me._

“Can you still escape?” Tony asked, thinking hard how he would get out of here, now Odin tailing him.

The stall door he was leaning against opened and Tony tumbled out, not prepared to fight so quickly.

Luckily for him, the person who opened the stall door was Frigga.

“Hi,” He said awkwardly.

 _Grandma!_ Sleipnir said happily, walking to the bright Queen. Frigga smirked at Tony, who wasn’t entirely sure if he should get up just yet. He watched as Frigga’s smile softened when she reached up and scratched at Sleipnir’s grey ears.

“Be free now,” She said in English. “None of you were supposed to endure this pain.” She pulled his ears and a brow band was pulled off that not there on his hair, but locked on his magic.

 _Will I see you again, grandma?_ The horse asked, his voice sad. Frigga laughed and pet him.

“Yes, but you must go with Anthony Stark and take him to your brother Fenrir as fast as you can,” Frigga said urgently, holding her hand out for Tony to take, heaving him up and somehow getting him on top of the horse. _Godly strength._ He thought, fingers gripping large handfuls of Sleipnir’s mane.

“Go,” She said to them both. Tony cursed when the horse reared, then took off. Tony heard his entire spine crack like an accordion as the air whipped his hair when the horse took off. Tony dropped his head onto the horse’s mane, closing his eyes and trusting that Sleipnir would take him to Fenrir.

At one point, Tony could smell the air’s scent chance from clean to rot. Sleipnir slowed once the air changed, then stopped. Tony moaned as he rolled off the horse, his legs twelve percent more bowed legged than when Frigga tossed him on the horse. The two of them stood in front of a large hill, the sky a sick and dying green-black color.

 _Fenrir!_ Sleipnir whinnied. _This human is taking us to Mother. Wake up!_ Sleipnir reared, stomping his four hooves on the ground. Tony found that the hill was the large wolf that he was sent to rescue, curled in a ball.

 _Brother?_ A growl came. Tony moved when he heard chains shift around the two of them. Tony gasped when the chains snapped up, revealing a large, snarling wolf that stood thirty feet tall. The chains dug sharply into Fenrir’s snout, blood and puss crusted on the chains. Similar bonds were wrapped around his legs and back. Tony growled when the image reminded him of the state Loki was in when he came back.

“Fenrir, I am here to take you back to Loki,” He shouted up to the wolf. The wolf brought his head down, the chains cutting into his lips as he snarled and shifted. Tony could hear his heart pounding in his chest as the wolf brought his nose close to his body.

The wolf inhaled deeply, Tony’s hair being pulled in front of him as the massive wolf scented him.

 _You have mother’s scent!_ He said with as much joy as Sleipnir did. Tony smiled when the wolf stopped snarling. Tony pulled out the stone that Frigga had gifted him with and touched the wolf, wanting to free him from the chains that cut into him.

Tony put the rune stone in his other hand, stroking his snout slowly as the large wolf was encased in the green and gold glow. The light flashed brightly, and Tony was soon pulling sharp, heavy chains off of a starving, naked child that looked no older than ten. Gathering the boy into his arms, he did the same to Sleipnir, worried for a moment that his human form would have more arms and legs.

His fears were quelled when a child that looked to be ten as well, rushed to Tony. Tony sagged, feeling exhausted and sick. _Must pull my energy from me._ Tony thought sluggishly.

“Hold on to me,” He said. Tony gripped the two naked children close and thought about Loki and the home that he had in New York.

The same sickening sensation washed over him as he was transported from Asgard to New York. He collapsed on the carpeted floor, bile in his mouth.

“Sleipnir, Fenrir, Anthony,” Loki said, rushing to the three males on the ground.

“Loki, I have to hurry,” He groaned, giving the children over to their mom, who was openly crying as he rubbed his children’s head. “Jarvis gave me the location of Jor earlier, I have to leave now.” He grabbed the stone and thought of the coast of Laurentian Abyss.

The Canadian air was freezing, snow already covered the ground and the wind from the sea broke all of Tony’s body heat.

“Jormungand!” Tony shouted. He shivered as he neared the ocean. “Jormungand!” He shouted again. Tony lifted the stone, not knowing what to do. His head shot up when he remembered a class he had in the second grade.

_Water can magnify sound and vibrations. It’s the reason why you can hear a coin drop in a pool underwater, it is a natural amplifier._

Tony rushed to the water, teeth chattering when the water became too much. He couldn’t panic as a wave crashed over his head, too cold to think about Afghanistan to have a reaction. Tony gripped the stone in his hand, took a deep breath and dived underwater.

“Jormungand!” He shouted, the stone glowing around his body. Tony pulled his head out from the water, body giving a full shudder. His skin was blue with cold as he tried to swim back to shore. The waves helping him along.

He could no longer feel his lower legs, his arms becoming heavy as he tried to pull himself to shore. Tony choked as water crashed into his mouth as the wave picked up. He turned his head, looking down at the dark water.

On his legs and torso, was a thin green coil. He gasped as the coil moved and pulled him closer to shore, seeing it grow thicker and thicker as he touched the shore.

 _Human, you are going to die,_ he heard as the sand touched his hands.

“Jor,” He croaked, shivering as the snake pulled him to shore, his tail wrapping around a larger portion of him.

 _How do you know of me?_ Jormungand asked Tony. Tony shivered, trying to curl in on himself, but his body too stiff to do so.

“Mom sent me,” He managed. Tony felt Jormungand hiss loudly, pulling Tony close.

 _We must hurry, Asgardians approach._ Tony fumbled for the stone, not bothering to touch Jor since he was doing a good job himself.

The light engulfed the snake and dimmed to show a boy that was about twelve.

“Midgardian!” A woman shouted as Tony wrapped his arms around the pale boy. Tony dropped the stone, slowly reaching for it. He looked up when he heard thunder, seeing Thor standing in front of him and three men and one woman.

“Sif, leave my brother’s family be,” He said, raising his hammer a bit. Tony shuffled back to reaching for the stone, sight shaking a bit, becoming blacker and blacker.

“Hold…. on,” He said, gripping the boy and trying his hardest to think about Loki.

He couldn’t feel the usual pull on his stomach as the stone pulled him to the safe house. He couldn’t hear Sif scream in rage, or see the bright flash of Thor’s lightning. He couldn’t hear Loki curse or feel the god pulling him close.

Tony turned over, his stomach emptying on the ground repeatedly. He could taste still, taste copper and smell blood in the air.

As his sight blackened to its fullest, he realized that the copper and the blood was his own.

*

Tony woke slowly, feeling beyond warm. It was comfortable, being engulfed by the heat that surrounded him. His mind was piecing together where he was slowly.

The ground was soft, fluffy and the air smelled of pine and lavender. He could hear pops and crackles of what he assumed was a fire burning. Tony could feel thick blankets wrapping around his body and then fingers carding through his hair. Tony shifted for a moment, thought slowly coming back to him.

“Loki?” He asked, voice hoarse. Tony heard his voice hitch, blinking away the blurriness in his eyes.

“Thank the Norn’s,” Loki said, leaning down and kissing Tony’s brow.

“What happened,” He asked, trying and failing to sit up. Tony saw that Fenrir was in an average wolf-sized form on his right, Sleipnir in a tiny dapple colt form to his left and Jor in a large python shape coiled on top of the blankets.

“You threw yourself in the ocean to shout for my son and nearly froze to death, then came here and began throwing up blood to then pass out in my arms,” Tony laughed weakly.

“I came back alive,” Loki growled at Tony.

“Not so that you could die in my arms,” He said. Loki closed his eyes, leaning his head down so they could rest their brows together. “You are lucky that the stone allowed me to summon mother.”

“I apologize, Anthony,” Frigga said from behind the two of them. Loki lifted his head to smile at his mother. “I did not expect the stone to have such taxing consequences,”

“’S’ok,” He slurred, feeling the exhaustion fall back to his body.

“Rest now, love,” Loki said, carding his fingers through his brown hair, “I’ll be here when you wake next,” Tony nodded once, eyes fluttering closed again as sleep reclaimed him.

*

Tony woke to the same conditions, only, the children he rescued were not surrounding him. The fire still roared, Loki still had his head on his lap, but the god slept. Tony shuffled a bit, trying to free his hand from the blanket cocoon he was in. The sound must have been loud enough to wake Loki.

“How are you feeling?” The god asked.

“Right now, fine,” Tony told him with a smile. “But I have a feeling I will be stiff when I get up.” Loki smiled, unwrapping Tony from one of the blankets.

“Holy hell, Loki.” Tony squeaked. “Why the hell am I naked?” He pulled the blanket against him, shivering again.

“Because your clothes were going to freeze to your skin. I had to strip you immediately.” Loki said, reaching for the hearth to pull an outfit and hand them to Tony. “Before you ask, my children did see, and they are used to nakedness seeing as they shapeshift.”

“Still embarrassing,” Tony muttered as he slipped on a shirt and a sweatshirt, still feeling cold.

“Yes, well, mother is teaching them how to shapeshift with their clothes still intact as we speak,” Loki said looking behind him. “Mother had to use magic to bring back your core temperature and keep your reactor from freezing together.”

Tony slipped on his pants and stood, staggering and having to hold onto Loki to get him to the kitchen.

“Mother wants you to drink this,” Loki said, handing him a mug filled with what looked like hot apple cider. “It is a nutrient drink. You will need to take another today and when you return from getting Hel.” Tony’s face fell as he looked back at Loki.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get her today,” Tony said to the mother. Loki smiled sweetly, moving to cup Tony’s face.

“Anthony, you have given me three of my children in a single day, nearly killing yourself to save them. For that, I will forever be in your debt and you will have my eternal gratitude and respect.” Loki said, kissing the top of his head. “You pushed your body to breaking point to save three of my children,” He stated again, “No one has ever done that before for me or my children.” Loki hugged him to his side due to the size of the baby bump. “I am surprised that it only took you a week to wake,”

“What?” Tony said, pulling away, then swaying. Loki sat the human down on the bench and pushed the mug in his hand. Tony took a deep drink, warming internally as the liquid ran down his throat.

“Finish the drink, then call Doctor Banner, he and the Hulk have apparently been sulking when Thor told the Avengers about your state,” Tony chugged the rest of the drink, feeling his body begin to loosen from the cold and stop shivering so much.

“I’ve been sleeping for a week?” Tony asked, drink finished.

“Yes,” Loki said. “Mother and the children were very worried about you for a day,” Loki paused. “I was beyond terrified,” He whispered. Tony reached his hand out to squeeze the gods hand.

“I’ll be better when I get Hel, promise, might pass out or sleep for a day, but I’ll be fine,” Tony said, smirking. Loki rolled his hand and passed Tony his phone.

“Good to have you back, sir,” Jarvis said from the ceiling.

“Jarvis scared the Hel out of the kids,” Loki smirked.

“Good to be back, J,” Tony told his AI, touching Bruce’s contact name. The phone rang once.

“Tell me he is still alive, Loki,” Bruce sounded like he hadn’t slept in days.

“I’m still alive,” Tony smirked to the phone.

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? SWIMMING IN THE LAURENTIAN ABYSS!”

“Jesus Christ, Bruce,” Tony said, putting the phone back to his ear. “I’m all good,” He ensured.

“I GOT A PHONE CALL AT TWO TWENTY-FOUR IN THE MORNING TO LOKI CRYING ABOUT HOW YOU WERE FREEZING TO DEATH, SO DON’T TELL ME YOU WERE FINE!” He shouted in the phone. He heard Bruce sigh tiredly. “The entire team is worried about you, Tony. Thor said you looked like death was about to grab you and take you to Valhalla.” Bruce sighed. “You made me Hulk out in the middle of Central Park and sit there four three hours,”

“Bruce, I’m sorry,” Tony said. “I’ll make it up to you the next time I’m in New York City.”

“Okay,” Bruce sighed. “I’m going to bed now. I’ll tell the team you are good,”

“Best Science Bro,” Tony said, hanging up the phone when he saw that Bruce had done the same. Tony put the phone on the counter and stood.

“Where is the stone?” Tony asked. “I might as well get here while your mother is here in case something goes wrong,” Loki looked hesitant but handed it over when he removed it from his pocket.

“I do not like that you are going right after you recovered, but I can see your reason,” Loki said. “Let’s get you in the under suit.” Loki supported Tony up the stairs, pausing when he saw Frigga with two half-clothed children and one naked one.

“They’ll get it by the time you recover from your journey to Hel,” Loki said his voice fond and loving as he pulled Tony to their bedroom.

Loki helped Tony back into his clothes, still stiff from nearly freezing to death.

“Hel is a place that you cannot describe,” Loki said, “Mother helped me gain enough magic to use the stone to get you to Hel, you will just have to find my daughter and get her back here,”

“Sounds easy enough,” Tony said.

“You should know that it is never easy,” Loki said, kissing his lips gently. Tony rolled his eyes, standing on his own. Loki put his hands-on Tony’s temple’s both eyes closed. Tony looked down on at the stone, seeing it glowing brightly again.

Tony was engulfed by the glow and dropped off in a dark place.

“Why are you here, living?” A female voice questioned from behind him as he stood.

“Hel?” Tony said, taking a step forward in the shadow plane, “I am here to bring you back to Loki, your mother, he sent me to get you,” Tony said, taking a couple steps forward.

“No,” She whispered from his left. Tony spun, clutching the stone in his hands.

“Stark!” Tony froze, fear slipping into his chest as the voice shouted his name. Tony turned and saw Howard Stark standing with a scowl on his face. “Your failure, couldn’t even control my own business, couldn’t fix your own heart!” Howard shouted at him.

Tony took a panicked step back as Howard raised a belt to snap down on his arm.

Tony thought of the funeral quickly, assuring himself that his father was dead. Remembered the state his body was in as he identified the corpse in the morgue, remembered the caskets being lowered. He forced himself to think about the footage he found of the Winter Soldier killing his mother and father with the car accident.  

When he opened his eyes, his father was gone, tears fell down his cheeks.

“I know what it is like,” He said. “to be abandoned by those you care for.” He said, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Your mother, he misses you so much, Loki cares for you, he wants to see you again, hold you in his arms and sing you to sleep, rub your stomach when you feel sick,” Tony said, pulling at straws as he walked in the shadow plane.

“You were never supposed to be taken from him, none of you were,” He said.

“Then why did he never look for me?” A small voice said to his left. Tony turned to see a girl who was a split opposite. Half of here was pale, a grey eye with white hair, the other half had black hair with a bright blue eye the same pale skin. Her voice sounded so broken.

Tony deflated, walking slowly to her, kneeling to her and pushing some of her white hair behind her pale ear.

“Loki thought of you every day, I know he tried to search for you every free moment he had so Odin would not punish you further,” Tony said, smiling when the child lifted her eyes to look at him. She was about fourteen years old, standing above him with a look that Tony knew was soul deep.

“Loki loves you,” Tony said, standing slowly. “Come home with me,” Tony said, stretching his hand out for the teen to take. Hel looked behind her, clearly nervous.

“I’ve never been to Midgard.” She whispered. Tony laughed warmly.

“I can tell you, it is better than this place,” Tony assured her. Hel reached for Tony’s hand, froze for a moment, then took it.

“Take me to mother, please,” She whispered. Tony nodded his hand, gripping her hand tightly, the stone in the other as he thought about going back to Loki. The brightness engulfed the two of them, pushing the shadows back and dropping them off to where Loki was pacing.

Tony let go of Hel’s hand and looked at the young teen as she looked at her mother.

“Hel,” Loki whispered, tears shining in his eyes as he rushed to Hel, hugging her tight. Hel was frozen for a moment, then hugged her mother, whimpering the word multiple times as Loki stroked her multicolored hair.

Loki looked back up at Tony and thanked him. Tony smiled and left the two of them, walking down the stairs, leaning heavily on the railing. He eventually made his way to the kitchen stool, no longer able to hear, movements sluggish.

He felt an arm come around him, tipping his head back and a warm liquid being tipped into his mouth. He drank without fighting, drinking until the arm tipped him to sit upright. Sound and feeling came back to him five minutes later.

He groaned when he opened his eyes, seeing Frigga in jeans.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen royalty in jeans. Thor and Loki do not count.” He said with a laugh. The Queen smirked at him, pushing a mug of what smelled like tea to him.

“You have given Loki more reasons to live these past months than we ever had,” She said sadly. “We have failed him as a family,” She said. “Please, keep him afloat.” Tony lowered the apple tasting tea down.

“You are doing everything in your power to help him now, Thor too,” Tony said. He took another sip of the sweet apple tea. “You have not failed him. Every family fucks up, mine certainly has,” Tony said, taking another sip. “But you try, which makes you a normal family,” He finished the apple tea with a smile.

“Thank you, Anthony,” She said. “I must leave before Odin becomes curious about my whereabouts.” She helped Tony stand and began helped him get to the bedroom where Loki was, Hel sleeping on his side. “You must rest,” She said, getting him to the bed, then walking back to Loki. She muttered something in their language that made Loki smile.

Frigga left as Tony snuggled to the other side of Loki. Loki sighed and said,

“Well, come on,” There was silence, then the door opened and three boys entered. Tony could tell that Fenrir was the one with unruly black hair and gold eyes, Jormungand with green and blue eyes with pale blond hair and Sleipnir with black and grey hair, with brown eyes. The three boys seemed hesitant on entering the bed with Tony there but climbed on after a moment.

The six of them wrapped around each other, seeking warmth from the blankets. Tony smiled at the family he gained, rubbing Loki’s large stomach until he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you liked the extra chapter, with smut and rescue. Wow, that was intense...
> 
> Hope to hear from you. :D


	12. Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have another

There was a week where Tony could only manage to stay awake for a few hours at a time. When he was awake, Loki would make sure that he ate as much as he could, drinking large portions of water.

Tony didn’t see much of the kids during the time he recovered from rescuing them.

Tony woke, stretching in the bed, feeling energized and more like himself. Tony rolled over on the other side of the bed, feeling that it was cold.  Tony groaned as he sat up, back still bruised from the falls that the stone gave him. He threw off the covers and walked to one of the drawers, picking out an outfit that would be acceptable for him to wear around kids.

Tony smiled in the mirror, stretching his arms again as he made his way to the kitchen where he would hopefully find Loki and the kids.

Tony looked out one of the windows when he could not find any of the gods in the house. He was greeted by the sight of an average sized black wolf, chasing a small, eight-legged colt. Tony smiled as he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around himself.

Hel was laying on the ground, her bicolored hair haloed around her head, Jormungand was in his snake form, laying near her. Tony watched as Sleipnir reared four of his hooves pawing at the air as Fenrir growled. Tony looked to his left and saw that Loki was sitting on one of the chairs that were outside, watching his children play.

“You should be resting,” He said as Tony approached. Tony rolled his eyes, sitting down in the chair next to his.

“I want to meet your children properly.” Tony said, watching as Sleipnir and Fenrir neared the two of them, both of their ears alert. Tony looked over to see that Jormungand was in his human shape, making his way over with Hel following by his side.

“Sleipnir, Fenrir, it is rude to greet Anthony in that form,” Loki admonished kindly when Jormungand hugged his mother. Sleipnir snorted then shifted into his human form, grey clothing clinging to his ten-year-old frame. Fenrir’s tail was wagging rapidly as he put his wolfish head in Tony’s hand, begging to be pet.

“Fenrir,” Loki growled at his son, exposing some of his teeth to the wolf child. Fenrir whined a bit, but his tail wagged despite being growled at. Fenrir shifted into his human form, only his shirt making its way to his human form.

“What did your grandmother say?” Loki said, smiling fondly at Tony when he took the blanket off himself to wrap it around the boy to clothe him.

“To relax more,” He muttered quietly. He perked up again, whole body shaking with excitement.

“Hello, human,” Fenrir squealed, launching himself into Tony’s lap.

“Fenrir,” Loki growled again, hand gripping the back of the child’s neck the way a mother wolf would discipline her pups. Fenrir whined, lowering his eyes and stilling in Tony’s lap. Loki released his grip and stroked the hair when he felt that his son learned not to pounce on his human.

“Hi, Fenrir,” Tony said with a smile, shifting the boy on his lap so it was more comfortable for the both of them. “I’m Tony Stark.”

“Thank you for getting me out of there,” Fenrir said with a smile, looking at his mother and siblings, Jormungand resting on Loki’s hip, Hel standing over Sleipnir with the same gaze she gave him when he rescued her.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark,” Hel said quietly. Tony rolled his eyes with a smile,

“Mr. Stark was my father, Hel, just call me Tony,” Hel turned her head slightly, but nodded.

“You smell like mother,” Jormungand said from Loki’s lap, pulling at his shirt. Tony and Loki shared a look, both pinking slightly.

“Are you and mother mates?” Fenrir asked him. Sleipnir smiled up at Tony, moving slowly to climb up onto the other side of Tony’s lap.  “You got mother territory,” Fenrir said, looking out at the trees.

“Fenrir, can’t you see that they are not yet mates, but _mate?”_ Jormungand said in a bored tone. Loki looked down at his son, eye brows in his hair. “It’s not like you couldn’t tell,” He muttered, flushing slightly. “Scents all over each other,” He finished, burying his head in Loki’s chest. Hel rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

“But you still care for mother?” Fenrir asked. Tony stuttered for a moment.

“Of course I do,” He said, ruffling the two kids’ hair, “and I care for you because your mother does.”

“That doesn’t mean you care,” Hel said, jaw clenched.

“Hel!” Loki growled at his daughter.

“What, mother?” She shouted, stomping her one foot. “I don’t understand how you can just trust this…this _human!”_ She shouted, taking a step back and pointing at Tony. “How many people must we lose before we admit that this family is cursed? That we are never meant to be together? To be _happy?”_ She choked in a breath, eyes beginning to tear up. Tony shifted Sleipnir and Fenrir off his lap as he slowly got up.

“How many more times am I going to have to trust that someone will be there and then _leave!”_ she screamed, hugging herself tightly. Loki put Jormungand on the ground and began to get up. Tony put his hand on the god’s shoulder, giving him a quick smile.

Tony approached the young teen, hair covering her two-colored eyes, body closing in on itself as Tony got closer to her. Tony knelt in front of her for the second time. He took her chin and tilted it so he could look into her two colored eyes.

“You’re mortal,” She whispered between clenched teeth, anger and sadness fighting a war inside of her. “Even if you do stay, you’ll leave,” Tony smiled at here.

“Do you really think your mother will allow me to leave?” He asked, wiping one of the tears from her eyes. “I’m surprised he hasn’t tricked me into eating one of those apples Thor talks about.” Tony took both of her frail hands in his own. “I am not going to allow something as fickle as mortality take me away from you, your brothers or your mother.” He promised her.

Tony brought her hands up and pushed them against the reactor.

“This keeps me alive,” He said to her when she looked from the place where her hands were pressed against to his eyes. “It keeps shrapnel from digging into my heart. So, I can promise you, with both of my hearts, that I’ll be here for you, for all of you,” Hel swallowed thickly for a moment, then launched herself into Tony’s arms, crying and speaking in a language he didn’t know.

Tony untangled her hair with his fingers, then picked her up and walked back to the chair he sat in a minute ago. The three other boys jumped onto his lap to hug and cuddle with him. Entertaining the four of them made him miss the tearful smile on Loki’s face.

*

“Come on, you five,” Tony shouted from outside as he put his coat on. “Jarvis said there were apple trees around and I want to introduce you to apple pie.” Tony heard a loud whinny and laughed when Sleipnir raced out of the house, short tail swishing, Fenrir following him in his wolf form.

Loki joined Tony a moment later, Hel and Jormungand in their human form, Hel offering Tony a small smile. Tony pulled the god close to him, kissing him for a moment.

“Mother, please,” Hel said, ducking her head.

“Oh dear,” Loki said, pulling away from Tony fractionally, “we have a teenager,”

“You’re figuring this out now?” Tony asked.

 _Come on!_ Sleipnir shouted at the two of them, nodding his horse head and pawing at the ground as Fenrir niffed the ground and barked at random squirrels that ran in front of him.

“It’s about a ten minute walk,” Tony told the god, pointing to where Sleipnir and Fenrir had run ahead, but still within sight. Hel and Jor eventually ran after their brothers, laughing as they ran between and around the trees.

“Thank you, Anthony,” Loki said, kissing him. “You have given me,” Tony kissed him again, shutting him up with a smile on his lips.

“Come on,” Tony said, intertwining their fingers, “I promised Clint muffins and I found a good apple muffin recipie.” The two of them walked in general silence, laughing occasionally as the children played in the woods.

They neared an apple clove of trees and picked the fruit from the trees, Tony watching as Fenrir and Sleipnir jumped to pull the apples down without breaking the fruit’s flesh. Jormungand shifted into his python form and picked the fruit carefully, putting them in the bags that Tony brought with him.

The six of them spent about fifteen minutes picking two bags worth of fruit, then three hours lounging as the children played, and the adults watched them play, swapping kisses between moments.

The kids were further away, playing between the trees so the adults couldn’t see them every moment. Loki began to panic, but Tony told him that there was no one around and they could still hear the four of them play.

Loki slowly relaxed, knowing that Tony was right in what he was saying. When night began to fall, Tony stood, calling the kids back to help him carry their fruit.

The night was spent baking. Tony taught them how to make curst and apple pie filling, apple muffins and apple sauce. As the food baked, Tony cooked up some pork chops and fed his large family. Dessert was eating warm apple pie by the fire, the six of them enjoying each other’s company.

“I was wondering if you would allow me to invite the rest of my family here to stay for some time.” Tony asked as Loki finished up braiding Hel’s hair for the night.

“The rest of Tony’s family is going to be here soon, anyway,” Loki said, petting Fenrir’s wolf head. “They have a family holiday in ten days,” He told his children. “I think it would do you good to meet them,”

 _You have a larger pack?_ Fenrir asked. Tony rolled his eyes but nodded.

“They’ll like us, right?” Hel asked. Tony laughed at her fear.

“They were worried that I would die trying to get you here safely.” He insured the teen, booping her nose. “They will want to meet you,” He said. The kids seemed to have a silent conversation, then nodded at the same time.

“Jarvis, send a message to the team that I expect them here by one tomorrow.”

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis answered from the ceiling.

“I think it is time for bed,” Loki said, nudging Fenrir to shift into his human form. Fenrir managed to do it, fully clothed. Together, Tony and Loki put the children in their rooms. Each child had a small room that was linked to a main room, making it more dorm like, but giving them the comfort of being near each other if they needed it.

Tony and Loki bid each child goodnight, then feel into bed together- Tony spooning Loki, both hands resting on the baby bump.

*

Tony presented Clint the muffins that he promised once Bruce was done hugging him. Introductions were made, Clint fascinated with the children, Sleipnir on his hip. Wade and Peter talked with Jormungand, who was renamed Jor for the sake of the non-Norse people. Phil and Fenrir got along nicely, Phil displaying his Alpha abilities to the wolf when he tried to jump on the agent. After that, Fenrir followed Phil around obediently.

Everyone had their rooms set up already, so there was a moment where awkwardness tightened the air.

This went away rather quickly when Fenrir ran up to Clint and shouted ‘tag,’ loudly, then taking off to the forest in his wolf form. Wade and Peter, being the children that they were, scrambled away from Clint and began running, Sleipnir and Jor taking off to follow them.

“Dude, you’re it,” Tony told him, half hiding behind Loki. Clint cursed and took off after the children, Thor joining him even though he had little idea what he was doing.

Tony began preparing a list of all the things he would need for Thanksgiving as seven people played tag outside and the others did more calming things. Tony began calculating how much turkey he would need to buy, bread, carrots, potatoes, and other things that were common for a Thanksgiving meal.

After crunching the numbers, he instructed Jarvis to find all the ingredients and ship them over to their location. Tony smiled when he looked up, seeing Steve and Hel talking over a piece of paper, pencils on the table. Bruce, Natasha and Phil seemed to be having a nice conversation by the fire that someone started.

Tony pulled out large portions of tortellini and various vegetables, deciding for a vegetarian night. By the time dinner was half done being prepared, Wade, Peter, Clint, Thor, Sleipnir, Jor and Fenrir walked into the house, dirty, sweaty and looked exhausted. Tony pointed a spoon at them and instructed that they all take showers and be back by the time that dinner was ready.

Dinner was as chaotic as it usually was by the Avengers terms. Tony sat at one of the heads of the table, Phil sitting on the other after arguing with Tony that the right should go to Loki. Tony told him that he would rather have Loki sit next to him and his children. The rest of them filed in; Wade and Peter sitting next to each other, Clint sitting across from Natasha, Thor sitting between Hel and Steve.

The next day was uneventful, seeing as it was raining very hard outside. The day was spent by the fire, Tony introducing games like Jenga, Uno, Monopoly and Twister to the kids and gods. Natasha, Peter and Jor were easily the best at Twister, none of them either able to trip the other. They called it a draw when they successfully proved that they were not going to fall at any point.

It was the day after that when everything went to hell.

Tony and Steve got a phone call from a woman in SHIELD that the Winter Soldier was in getting close to New York, nearly killing Nick Fury in the process to get there. Ten minutes later, Steve, Natasha, Peter, Wade and Thor were in their suits and taking one of the ships that Tony had stored on the property.

Tony knew that it would take them an hour to get to Bucky’s location using the SHIELD carrier, but not how long it would take him to get Bucky back to his own mind. Tony rushed up the stairs, an idea forming into his head as Phil explained the Winter Soldier to Loki and the children.

Tony burst into his room and pulled out the stone he kept in the false drawer of the sock drawer. He pocketed it, rushing back down the stairs and accepting the tight hug from Loki.

“He killed your mother, and yet you rush to his aid,” Loki whispered to Tony, running his hand into his hair.

“He is being controlled,” Tony said, pulling from the hug, “Just like you were, I’ve got to help him.” Tony said.

“Just come back,” Loki said. Tony nodded his head, accepting another quick kiss before kneeling in front of four kids who immediately hugged him.

“Hurry home,” Hel said to him, the last to pull from his embrace. Tony booped her nose with a smile, standing, gave a quick nod to Phil and walked outside.

He tapped his watch and allowed parts of the suit to encase around him, bursting from one of the escape hatches that he had installed.

“Let’s jet, J,” Tony said, taking off.

*

It wasn’t hard to find where they all were, the lightning was a good sign. Tony circled around central park, seeing that Thor was keeping Bucking in a confined location, making sure he couldn’t get away. Steve and Wade were throwing punches and kicks as the Winter Soldier tried to shoot at them both. Peter used his Spider powers to tangle and trip the Winter Soldier, trying to get him off his game so Steve and Wade could get him to the Avengers Tower.

Natasha was shooting her widow bites at him, shocking his body.

The Winter Soldier looked to be weary as he stumbled and panted when Wade punched him away from Natasha. The Soldier staggered on the ground, Peter shooting a web at his legs, then pulling them from underneath him.

Tony landed next to Steve, pulling himself out of the suit and reaching for the stone.

“Restrain him so I can get the stone to work,” Tony said to Steve, knowing Wade and Peter would hear due to their abilities. The Winter Soldier perked up, pulling a gun out from his leg, aiming at Tony. Steve held up the shield, charging his lover, Wade following.

The two of them fought so Peter could have his limbs exposed. Shot after shot of webbing, he secured the human arm of the Soldier, Wade occupying his less human arm, Natasha tazing him multiple times when he got too close to delivering a powerful blow to Steve or Wade. Thor landed behind Tony, hammer raised in case he managed to escape.

Peter secured his other arm, Natasha putting a widow bite against the thread, shock traveling through his body.

Tony rushed forward, willing the stone to help heal the mind of the Soldier to what he knew it once was. The stone glowed around his hands as he ran to the Soldier putting his hands on either side of his temples.

Tony closed his eyes, concentrating on calming the Soldier first. He could feel the stone get warmer in his hands as it worked its literal magic. He opened his eyes, gasping at the light of the stone phasing into his temples. The Winter Soldier’s eyes were closed, his mouth clenched from pain or release from the pain, Tony could not tell.

The Solder was being held up by the bonds that Peter put on him, the rune stone relaxing his mind. Tony closed his eyes again, willing the stone to pull the control from his mind.

“Jesus,” Tony heard Steve said. Tony shuddered at feeling his own strength being sapped from him. He grit his teeth, bracing his body further and thinking about pulling HYDRA’s control out of Bucky’s head.

Tony opened his eyes when he heard Bucky gasp. The Winter Soldier’s eyes were pinpointed, nose bleeding profusely. Looking up at his temples, he cringed at the gold magic pooling in his head was a black and red color as it was being extracted from Bucky’s head.

Tony closed his eyes when he felt his knees buckle. Strong arms wrapped around him, keeping him supported as he kept concentrating on removing the evil that HYDRA put there.

Tony felt the stone get colder in his hands. Tony shuddered as he pulled his hands away from the Soldier’s temples, two thick, ugly thorns being pulled from his temples. The gold magic wrapped around the blood colored thorns, then pooled back into his head.

 _Heal him,_ he willed. The stone warmed in his hand, getting brighter as it wined between his fingers, the red thorn becoming smaller and smaller as he healed. Tony’s head felt heavy as he watched the gold thread become thinner and thinner in his hand.

Feeling the stone begin to return to normal, he pulled his hands and the stone away from Bucky’s head, the glow stopping. Tony’s knees completely buckled, leaning heavily against Wade.

“You have a glow rock,” He said, a smile clearly behind the mask. Tony nodded, his nose feeling wet. He reached for it, pulling his hand away to see it bloody.

“He should be good,” Tony said, noticing the others tense around Bucky, who was unconscious but being held up by Peter’s webbing. “We need to get him to the tower, now,” Tony said, regaining his footing. “I have a feeling the arm has a chip in it that will try and control his mind.”

Tony stumbled his way to the suit, pocketing the stone, as Wade and Steve grabbed an arm of the Winter Soldier.

“Jarvis,” Tony croaked, “Get my lawyers ready for a war,” He said, taking off towards the Tower. “I have a feeling Fury will have some papers that are going to try and pull apart the Avengers.” He said.

“They are already being notified,” He said.

“Good,” Tony banked left then began to climb the air to his landing pad. “Tell Loki that I am okay, no one was hurt, but I have to stay to make sure that Bucky will not slip under the control of Hydra. I’ll have it done in two days.”

“He told me to inform you to stay safe,” Jarvis relayed.

“Prepare Phil for becoming Director of SHIELD,” Tony added as he landed on the pad, suit detaching from his body. “Tell the team to get Bucky to my lab,” Tony said as he ran to the elevator, hitting the lab button. The elevator took him down, door opening as he raced to pull together all the supplies he might need.

Dummy rolled up to him, a smoothie in his arm. Tony took it with a smile, patting the bot as he sipped the nutrient shake. Tony finished the shake the moment that Steve and Wade dragged in a semi-coherent Bucky Barnes.

“Sargent Barnes, can you hear me?” Tony asked, feeling for a pulse and then removing the Soldiers shirt, knowing that he was being watched. Tony cursed as he pulled the bloody shirt off seeing the infection of his arm.

“It’s a lot like the discharge my reactor makes,” Tony said, partly to himself and the others around him. Tony nodded as he whipped the discharge off his arm. “I need to get his arm off.” Tony muttered, reaching for tools to twist the screws loose.

Tony worked carefully on Barnes arm as the others watched silently, stopping his movements when Bucky’s breath hitched or he whined.

Two hours later, he removed the arm and nearly vomited at the smell of infection. He put his arm behind him as he held his breath to wipe the puss. His eyes burned, mouthwatering at the nauseating sight.

Tony lifted his head when he saw Wade beginning to help him.

“My scars would get infected,” He muttered, pulling infected blood away from the remains of Bucky’s arm. Tony and Wade worked as quickly as possible, removing the infection until blood began to clean the wound naturally.

“We need to massage the wound so more blood will clean the old wound,” Wade said as he rubbed the skin near his injury. The two rubbed the wound until Wade said that it was going to heal cleanly.

“Thor, help me,” Wade ordered. Tony looked up to see that Steve was no longer in the room, Peter and Natasha not near either.

“He couldn’t bear the sight of his lost love this hurt,” Thor said, carefully picking one side of Bucky up. Tony nodded, walking to the arm.

“Wade, get him to the medical bay, hook him up to fluids and clean the arm,” Tony said, looking at the silver arm the Soldier was burdened to wear. “Make sure Steve is there so when he wakes the freak out is minimal. No tricks like they did with Steve,” He added.

“Jarvis, air this damn place out,” Tony gagged when they left, being painfully reminded of Loki’s state when he landed in a similar state. Tony picked up the arm and the tools, walking to the other side of the lab and began working on the arm.

He pulled apart the faulty wiring, the rusty gears and coils that Tony knew pained him. He added a new core on it that was not powered by whatever the hell HYDRA thought was a decent power source, but with a powered down arc reactor.

He cleaned each plate of the armor, replacing it only after he attached what would be human nerves to each part of the plates. He debated changing the star for a moment, but decided against it because it would become his strength, not weakness.

Tony grimaced as he cleaned the part that bit into Bucky’s arm, screws slammed into his skin, tearing it every time he would move. Tony rewired the entire attachment and put a gel sleeve over it so it would prevent the discharge that he once had a problem with and keep it from becoming infected or painful.

Tony Stark grinned at his work, then smirking as he engraved his name with a micro laser on the elbow. Tony stretched and walked the arm up to the Medical Bay.

He smiled softly at the sight of Steve, holding Bucky’s one arm, asleep in civilian clothing, shield in his other hand in case he needed to fight. Tony squeezed the Captain’s arm to wake him gently rather than Tony nearly being killed.

“I fixed his arm,” Tony whispered. He walked to the other side of the bed lifting the arm and attaching it to the Sargent. Bucky thrashed, then shot upward. He panted as he looked around at his surroundings, then down at his hand.

“Steve?” He croaked, looking at the blond then down at their hands intertwined.

“Buck,” Steve responded, getting closer to the man on the bed. Tony smiled at the two of them, walking out as he felt the exhaustion begin to claw at him.

“Anthony,” Thor said as Tony dragged his feet into the elevator, taking it up. “You have done a great many things with the rune stone, not only for my family, but for yours.” Thor said. “You have spared the life of one that killed your family, then fixed him.” Thor put his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “You are truly a noble and worthy leader,” He finished, walking out of the elevator when it opened on his floor.

Tony shook his head, taking the elevator to the pent house. He kicked off his clothes, forcing himself to at least rinse in the shower, the smell of blood and infection in his skin. Tony threw up when he stumbled out of the shower, the shock of the wound Bucky had catching up to him. Tony rolled his way over to the bed using the walls, not bothering with clothing as he pulled the covers over him. Sleep happy to have him again.

*

Steve tried to control himself as Bucky grabbed his short hair, pulling him to his lips.

“Goddammit, Steve, I’ve waited too damn long to take it slow,” Bucky said, flipping the two of them so Steve was pinned against the wall. Bucky attacked his lips, relishing in the feeling that his new arm had. He could feel Steve’s heartbeat under the Captain’s rib cage, the smoothness of his skin, the softness of the shirt that he tore off.

Bucky ground his hips against the man under him, pulling one of his arms above his head so he could bite at Steve’s neck, panting when Steve moaned.

“Please, Steve,” Bucky whispered desperately in his ear.

“Do it, Bucky,” Steve moaned in return. Bucky grinned, kissing his love gently, then tossing him on the bed, pouncing on him when Steve backed his way up the bed.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Steve moaned as Bucky undid his pants, pulling them off and wasting no time to grab his cock and stroke.

Steve reached to the bed stand and pulled out a bottle of lube, handing it to the man. Bucky moaned as he took one of Steve’s nipples in his mouth, the metal one tweaking the other. Bucky ground down, putting his knee between of Steve’s so they could better rut against each other.

“Slow…later,” Steve said when he arched as Bucky breached him with a finger slowly. Bucky kissed the man under him deeply, tongue reintroducing itself to Steve’s as he opened his love. Steve arched and moaned into Bucky when Bucky found the spot that drove him crazy when they were younger.

“Now,” Steve demanded. Bucky pulled his hand out, aligned himself and pushed in without waiting.

“Love you,” Bucky moaned, eyes closed for a moment, “so much,” he continued, kissing the side of his loves neck.

“Remember what I said?” Steve moaned out between thrusts. Bucky slowed for a moment, Steve gripping his hips to get back to the fast pace. “About marriage?” He added. Bucky moaned as he dropped his head, pace becoming more frantic as he chased his first orgasm in seventy years.

“Yes,” He hissed, smiling when Steve shouted at his prostate being hit.

“It’s…shit, Buck,…legal,” He pushed out. Steve brought his hands up to pull on Bucky’s hair until he looked at him. “Marry me?” He asked, face blushed, eyes dark and hair messy.

“Yes,” Bucky shouted with a smile, he kissed Steve deeply, thrusts hitting Steve’s prostate with every thrust now. “Yes, Steve, yes,” He said, joy filling his heart as he thrust into his love.

The two finished with a kiss that was not at all neat, but perfect in every way. They fell next to each other, kissing until Steve made sure that Bucky fell asleep peacefully in his arms.

*

Thor and Natasha returned to the safe house the morning that Steve and Bucky were reunited. Wade and Peter remained with Tony and the two couples. Tony smirked at Bucky when he saw the state of Steve’s neck and rolled his eyes when he saw the condition of Peter’s.

Tony had Jarvis pull up the same file that he gave to Steve to help him get used to the twenty-first century. He finished up his morning omelet when Jarvis told him that Fury was demanding entry.

Tony sighed as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

“I’ll handle him,” Tony assured the Super Soldiers. “Steve, get the others to the Safe House, tell Phil that his time is near,” he told the soldier. Steve stood, taking Bucky’s hand.

“Thank me later,” Toy said when he saw Bucky near him, “You have to get out of here. I already have enough evidence to prove your innocence and being a prisoner of war. That information is being comprised then will be released to the public. But if you stay, Fury will destroy your change at freedom,” He said. “Go,” Tony urged the four on.

Wade picked up Peter, tossing him over his shoulder as he went to one of the elevators, Bucky and Steve following the two men in red. Tony thought it was humorous; as one door closed another opened.

“Stark, sit down, now,” Fury demanded, several bandages covering him. Tony proceeded with caution, moving slowly, sitting casually enough to show that Fury had no control over him. He glanced at the large stack of papers that was in his hands.

“Where is Barnes?” He demanded, slamming his hands on the table. Tony blinked slowly at him.

“Safe,” He said simply.

“Damn it, Stark!” Fury shouted. “He’s killed people,”

“And we’ve been over this,” Tony said with a smirk, leaning forward, folding his hands and giving the Director a shark like grin. The Director grinned and slid the papers over to Tony. Tony took them after a moment, eye brows raising.

“You’re disbanding the Avengers?” He asked.

“Or hand over Wilson, Loki and Barnes.” Fury dared. Tony stood up with a smile, taking the papers in his hands.

“Jarvis, pull everything from SHIELD,” He said simply.

“Happily, sir,” Jarvis said sounding cynical. Tony walked away from the Director, his phone already blowing up with texts and calls from Pepper.

“What did you do?” Fury said, a vein popping in his head. Tony shrugged.

“Well, I think I told you this, but I’ll repeat myself,” Tony said, pouring himself a glass of water. “I have a lot of money invested in SHIELD, technology, money itself, assets and safe houses. I own more than half of SHIELD.” Tony drank from the glass, ignoring the look Fury was giving him as he silenced his phone. “Also, all the merchandising you’ve been doing, yeah, all mine,” He said.

Tony sighed, putting the glass in the sink.

“Well, I’ve got to go,” He smiled as Fury lifted his gun, pointing it at him.

“This is treason,” He said. Tony put a finger to his mouth, snapping his fingers twice, signaling to Jarvis to get ready to deploy a suit.

“Actually, it is just business,” Tony said, taking a step back. “They are my assets and now I pulled them. SHIELD was losing me money, so it is actually a decent decision that I should have made a while ago,” Tony raised his hands, the suit engulfing him.

“I’m just happy I can see how pissed off you are,” Tony said from behind the mask. “Jarvis, get him out of here.” Tony said as a window lowered and he flew out of it.

Tony landed an hour and a half later, four hundred emails in his inbox, fifty-six voicemails, about half of them from Pepper, numerous texts and about two hundred thousand tweets from civilians and politicians. Tony silenced all the notifications when he saw Loki and his children outside to greet him. The other Avengers flocked behind them.

Tony hugged all of them, Loki glad that he came back in once piece.

Phil smiled at Tony with Loki talking to the four children, Wade and Peter hugging each other, and Steve with Bucky, holding hands, both happy to be reunited after so long.

Phil would have never thought that _Tony_ of all people would be the one to do all this. He smiled at everyone, enjoying the first vacation he had since entering SHIELD. _All because of_ Tony! He thought again, shaking his head at the audacity of it all.


	13. Hot as Hell

Back home with his family, Tony began to prepare Thanksgiving dinner five days in advanced. Steve and Bucky helped him cut and dice vegetables. Bucky was surprisingly good with the kids once he got over his nervousness of hurting them. When things got too loud for Bucky, he would go by the lake to be joined by Jor a couple minutes later. Tony, Loki and Steve never asked what they talked about when they returned with smiles.

Bucky was doing better every day. Steve helped teach him the things that he learned every day, Loki helping the Soldier sort through Winter Soldier memories and his own when he got confused.

Tony smiled when he caught Bucky and Steve in clean private moments, grimacing when he caught them in not so clean moments.

As Tony put the numerous pounds of cranberry jell in the refrigerator, Bucky looked nervous at the bar.

“What’s up?” Tony asked, throwing the towel over his shoulder as he grabbed the sponge to wipe the counter. When the Soldier didn’t say anything, Tony sighed and put the sponge away. “We should go for a walk,” Tony told him. Bucky shifted on his legs for a minute, then nodded.

Tony walked side by side, ignoring the awkward tension that was building. The two of them walked past Fenrir, who was lying next to Bruce in his wolf form, meditating with the scientist. The two of them walked past the others, in various forms of relaxation.

Soldier and scientist walked for about fifteen minutes until they were in the thick of the woods. Tony turned and sat down against one of the trees, waiting until Bucky did the same.

“It wasn’t your fault, you know,” Tony said, picking up one of the fallen leaves to stroke red and orange colors.

“Of course it was,” Bucky growled. Tony looked up sadly.

“I’ll admit,” Tony said, picking up another leaf, “I was…well,” He said, giving the soldier a hurt smile, “I was a lot of things,” he dropped the leaf and braced his head against the back of the tree remembering the pain of finding out his parents died the first time and then finding out the second time.

“I didn’t process the emotions as a kid,” He said, feeling the breeze kick up amongst the trees. “I certainly did when I found the footage,” He have a laugh, no humor in it. “The point that I came to, was that it was HYDRA that killed them,” He looked at the man he helped save. “You were just a pawn,” He told Bucky.

“I strangled your mother,” He said, standing up with rage, “I killed them, along with countless others,” Tony sighed, not going to stand and confront the soldier.

“HYDRA did,” Tony said.

“Why are you not angry?!” Bucky shouted down at the man. Tony laughed in a sickening way that made Bucky flinch.

“I am angry, don’t doubt that,” Tony said. “But my anger is at HYDRA for killing them, not you,” He said. Tony stood up and put his hand on Bucky’s shoulder. “But, see, the thing is, if I am angry at you about being controlled to kill people, then I have to be angry at Loki.” Tony patted his shoulder. “Neither of you were under control. Neither of you chose to kill those that you did,”

“You should hate me,” Bucky said, head lowered. Tony smiled at him, picking his head up with a finger like he did with the kids when they got emotional.

“I don’t, and you shouldn’t hate yourself,” Tony said, “Hate HYDRA, avenge yourself by helping SHIELD kill them all,” Tony said with a grin.

“You pulled your funding from SHIELD,” Bucky added, a smirk pulling his lips up.

“Yeah, I’m just letting that go until Fury retires or quits,” Tony said with a shrug, making his way back to the house to continue with Thanksgiving preparations. “It shouldn’t be much longer, besides, SHIELD is still getting funding, I’m just putting it to Phil and his AGENTS team.”

“Of course you are,” Bucky said. The two of them walked on, until they heard a loud howl from Fenrir. Bucky and Tony looked at each other then took off, Bucky running faster than Tony, but Tony keeping good pace. _I shouldn’t be moving this fast,_ He spared a thought.

The two of them came in view of the house, the rest of the Avengers close to the house, to see that Bruce was the Hulk and Fenrir was trying to play with him. Tony rushed over to Loki, who looked like he was trying to pull together his magic to save his son.

“Loki, stop,” Tony said, gripping both of the gods hands. “Did Bruce change by himself?” Tony asked over his shoulder as they watched Hulk look down at Fenrir, who bounced around the green man.

“Yes,” Natasha whispered.

“Then he is fine,” Tony said, watching as the Hulk sat down, then reached his hand out to try and pet Fenrir.

“Puppy,” Hulk said. Fenrir jumped on the Hulk, accepting the pets from the green fingers.

 _Mother, look!_ Fenrir said, wagging his tail quickly as the Hulk pet him.

“Anthony,” Loki growled, his hands squeezing hard enough that Tony winced, “explain,” He growled, eyes never leaving his son as he was pet by the Hulk.

“When I rebuilt the Avengers Tower, I built a secret set of rooms for Bruce to let the Hulk out when he felt he needed to,” Tony explained quickly, “Long story short, when he chose to let the Hulk out under calm circumstances, the Hulk was much more peaceful, just wanting to sleep or play,” Tony sighed. “I helped him one day and the Hulk insisted that I was to…dammit… sleep with him,” Tony muttered, pinking. “He never hurt me when I watched over Bruce change into the Hulk by choice.”

“That would explain would explain why Bruce would be gone at certain periods and none of be able to find him when you were rescuing the kids,” Steve said, watching as the Hulk lay down, Fenrir laying on top of his chest, still wagging his tail.

“Also explain why Bruce Hulked out in Central Park,” Natasha added. There was a tense moment, then Clint defused the situation,

“So, what I am hearing, is that Bruce missed his cuddle buddy,” Tony groaned as the others laughed at him.

“Loki, I swear, Fenrir, and all the others are fine,” Tony said, pulling the gods attention to him. Loki looked back at his son, who was wagging his tail. Loki sighed, the tension defusing as he looked over to his son.

 _Mother?_ Fenrir asked, standing on the now sleeping Hulk’s chest, _why won’t he play?_  Fenrir looked over at his mother. Loki glared at his son. Fenrir put his tail down as he jumped down and trotted to Loki.

“If Bruce wants to play when he wakes, then you can play,” Loki told his son, “Until then, let him sleep,” Loki looked over his shoulder to his other children. “That includes you,” He said to them.

“Fenrir,” Tony said, looking at the wolf, “Why don’t you and your siblings help me with making the rolls for thanksgiving.”

*

Thanksgiving was a grand affair. It was the first family Thanksgiving for all the Avengers and Loki’s kids. Tony made sure to put on the Macy’s day parade for everyone to watch, then explaining what it was to those that were confused about the tradition. Steve and Bruce explained why only American’s celebrate Thanksgiving to the gods and the children. Wade and Peter helped the kids make Thanksgiving crafts like hand turkeys, which turned into hoof and paw turkey’s.

Steve and Bucky tried to teach the kids how to fold napkins, but lost the battle when the napkins were going to turn into blindfolds. Phil picked out numerous bottles of wine for dinner. By the time dinner was ready, Tony was exhausted from cooking for about three days, preparing about one hundred pounds of food total.

“It’ll be a miracle if there are leftovers,” Tony told Phil as Wade cut the turkeys for the family, none of them surprised at his cutting skills. Phil hummed as he put a serving of mashed potatoes on his plate.

Dinner took about three hours to eat, everyone enjoying being around each other and the holiday. They all swapped various stories, Phil telling them that the Board of Directors of SHIELD was freaking out a bit.

Tony told them that his own board was freaking out a bit. The table laughed at that.

When dinner finished, there were only a couple of leftovers, certainly not enough for everyone to share them and be full. The kids tired out an hour later, Loki telling Tony that they probably over ate, if that was possible for them. Tony helped him put the kids to bed, feeling slightly envious about the kids getting to sleep.

“HYDRA hasn’t made any moves,” Phil said when he and Loki returned. “We know that they are around, but they seem to be waiting,”

“For what is the question,” Bucky growled, Steve taking his wine glass from him before he broke it with his hand.

“We can only do so much,” Peter said from one of the couches, cuddled close to Wade.

“Do we know what they could be after?” Steve asked, giving Bucky back his wine when he calmed a bit.

“We have no idea,” Phil told them solemnly.

*

“”I’ll be back in a week, tops,” Tony told Loki and the kids as he opened the trunk to put his suitcase in along with an Iron Man suitcase. “The board in Malibu is getting antsy since I pulled my funds from SHIELD.”

“You really have to go?” Jor asked. Tony smiled and ruffled his hair a bit.

“I do,” Tony said. “Even if I don’t want to, I got to keep them under control.”

“Tony will be fine,” Loki told the children.

“You better be,” Hel told Tony as he got into the car with a smile.

*

The ride to New York was boring, the plane to Malibu was the same and the meeting he attended was a drag. Four grueling, eye drooping hours later, Tony was putting on his coat to leave the board room for the day.

Being with Pepper was a bit awkward, but he expected that. When the Board members left, Pepper and Tony shared a stiff silence until Pepper told him she was dating Happy. Tony smiled, thrilled that she found someone who wouldn’t put her in danger.

Tony walked to the main exit of his building to go home when he paused, seeing a familiar face. The man was well built, in a grey suit and talking to one of the scientists, getting closer than she looked happy with. Before he could get to the man to stop harassing his employees, a bald man came up and pulled the one with a suit away.

Tony watched them leave, tapping on his phone for Jarvis to run facial recognition. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Badge?” Happy’s voice said from behind him. Tony smirked as he turned.

“Do I really need a badge?”

“Boss,” Happy said, half worried, “I haven’t seen you around,”

“Yes, I’ve been living the domestic life.” He said with a smile. Happy rolled his eyes.

“You see the sketchy men too?” Happy said, looking down at Tony’s phone to see the pictures that were running.

“Yeah,” Tony said, looking back at the door they left from.

“Follow them, Boss?” Happy asked. Tony smiled and began to walk to his car, Happy following and getting in his own.

“J, can you tell me where they went?” He asked, the two of them pulling their cars out of the lots and speeding to catch up to them.

“Take a left on the next exit,” Jarvis said to him. Tony smiled, weaving in and out of the cars around him. He turned left, drifting on the on ramp and drove forward. The two cars drove for another five minutes, taking orders from Jarvis.

“Sir, they are gone,” Jarvis told them.

“Gone?” Tony asked, skeptically as he weaved between cars.

“He dropped off the map, I have tried numerous means to locate his current location and where he is going, but I have come up with no conclusive results.” Jarvis told them. Tony cursed as he slowed his car, pulling off at the next off ramp. He drove until he parked at a gas station.

“We lost them,” Tony told Happy as he walked to his car.

“Sorry, Boss,” Happy said.

“Go home, Happy, have the rest of the day off,” Tony said, patting the roof of his car then making his way to his own. The ride to his home in Malibu was uneventful in relation to the ride that he just had.

Tony unpacked both of his suitcases and plopped them on the bar. He took a seat on the couch and listened.

He wasn’t used to the silence anymore. With the Avengers moving in, there was always noise, one way or another. Clint was crawling in the vents, making noise on purpose, Bucky and Natasha talking in Russian, and the kids running around in various forms.

The silence was a but unnerving to Tony. He got up and walked outside so he could hear the ocean. He strained his eyes when he saw a blip in the distance.

“Sir, your suit,” Jarvis told him urgently. Tony turned on his heels and ran to the one suit case. He pushed the center of it as he heard a large crash and felt heat burn his skin. He pulled the rest of the suit on, stumbling forward as more bombs hit his house.

“Jarvis, get me out of-“  He was cut off when a bomb landed ten feet away from him, blasting rumble and fire at him. The suit protected him from most of the blast, but the heat seeped past the plates. Tony felt his legs get wrapped around something, then being dragged down as his house feel off the edge of the cliff.

Tony blasted the ruble that he would have fallen on as he tried to shoot the coil that wrapped around his leg.

The water crashed into his body, pieces of the suit compromised as felt the water seep into him. The visor was cracked, giving him a double vision as he was dragged to the floor of the ocean. Tony blasted the pieces of his house as they fell near him with one hand, the other trying to untangle himself from the rebar that coiled around him.

Tony pulled the last of the rebar from him and flew out of the way as the deck and main floor of his house crashed down. Water filled his suit faster as he flew up to the surface of the water, looking so close, but knowing it was far away. The water was to his lips as he took one blast breath of water, pushing the last of the broken suits energy to the surface.

He made it up past the water, gasping for breath as the water drained from his suit, only one flight booster working. Tony turned the suit and shot at one of the helicopters, blowing it to pieces as it crashed down in the ocean. He dodged a rocket meant for him, barely as the suit was running out of power.

He dived as another rocket was shot at him, pulling his suit up to try and hit the helicopter with a laser. The helicopter weaved around him, shooting bullets at him as he got further away to shoot one of his own rockets at the helicopter.

But the helicopter was faster.

The suit took most of the large bullets damage, but the energy core depleted and Tony once again fell to the ocean.

*

Tony woke slowly, groaning as he opened his eyes to the bright light that shone in his eyes. Tony noticed that he was clothed in a tight black under suit like the one he wore as he wore the Iron Man suit. His hands were strapped to his sides, stuck in a standing position.

“Well, I hope you enjoyed your nap,” A voice said from behind him. “You certainly slept for some time,” the male said. Tony turned his head, grimacing to see that it was the same man who was harassing the employee when he was last awake.

“As _horribly_ cliché this is, I have places to be,” Tony said. He groaned as the man punched him in his sides.

“Oh, I am going to enjoy this,” The man said when Tony pulled his head back. “I mean, you haven’t taken the bait once,” He said.

“What are you talking about?” Tony asked. The man laughed until he realized that Tony had no idea what he was talking about.

“You really don’t know? Do you?” The man laughed. “I am Killian, remember that person on New Year’s with the limp?” Tony watched as his eyes seemed to glow gold for a moment, observing as his wrists gave the same gold glow.

“Well, you don’t have to,” He said. “I am the Mandarin,” Tony shrugged at the man. “Do you live under a rock?” Killian asked. Tony shrugged. “It doesn’t matter,” Killian said, walking away from Tony.

“This here is what I was going to ask you to invest in,” He held up the syringe with an orange substance in it. “The only problem is, it has killed every subject who has taken it, apart from me,” He said with a smirk. “It was supposed to be the new thing since the Super Soldier Serum, capable of evolving humans.” He picked up a brown bite and put it in Tony’s mouth.

“It only worked on one though,” Killian said, lowering the needle to his skin. “This is a very small dose,” The fluid burned as it entered Tony’s blood. “It won’t be enough to kill you right away, but it will be enough to give you a significant amount of pain before it does.” Killian said. He pulled the brown bite from Tony’s mouth.

“Go to hell,” He growled as the burning took over his arm, heart beating strongly in his chest. Killian laughed.

“I already have been,” He said before walking away, leaving Tony in the brightly lit room. Tony closed his eyes, trying to slow his breathing to keep the fluid from running through his body. He succeeded until the burning took over his shoulder.

“Note to self,” He groaned, dropping his head as the pain bloomed to his chest and legs, “meditate with Bruce more often,” He coughed as the pain swelled to his neck, feeling like he was being suffocated.

Tony began to panic, thrashing against the straps as he felt the drowning sensation come back to him, only this time there was no water to choke on. Tony panted, gritting his teeth as the burning consumed his body.

*

Tony wasn’t sure how much time passed before Killian came back, giving him another dose of whatever the hell was the orange substance was.

“I call it, Extremis,” He said, leaving Tony to deal with the pain again. Tony could see, when he opened his eyes as the pain got too intense, his veins glowing with the same orange glow that the liquid had.

Tony shouted for the first time as a new wave of pain over took him.

*

By the third dose, Tony could only pant hard as Killian boasted about how good it was to see Tony in pain. Tony gave him a pained smile, before shouting again, the new dose feeling more painful on his innards.

Tony wasn’t sure how long he was there for, the pain roared inside him, worse than any blast he had taken from a rocket or a bad sun burn. His insides burned, his eyes had no more hears to release from pain, his mouth was more dry than it was when he was trapped in Afghanistan.

The strange thing was, when the pain swelled to its greatest amount, it stopped. Tony dropped his head and panted for several minutes before dropping to the ground. He rolled over, eyes opening slowly.

The bars that strapped him in, looked like they had been melted, the straps still glowing. Tony groaned as he sat himself up. He gasped at the sight of his hands. They glowed bright gold, the ground around him becoming hot from where his hands had touched the floor.

Tony stood, tapping the suit, seeing it didn’t burn.

 _I’ve got to get out of here,_ He thought slowly. Tony reached his hand out and shouted when a ball of fire shot from his hand to the wall.

“What?” He asked, looking down at his hand, seeing it was glowing up to his elbow. Tony shook his head and made his way to the door. As he touched the door handle, he pulled it off and then it burned.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” He muttered in frustration. Tony looked down at his hands, placing them against the hinges and watched as they glowed and burned off the looks, the door falling to its side. Tony pushed the door, cringing as it flew back, hitting people in the way.

“So this is how Steve felt,” Tony groaned as he stumbled out of the chamber that he was kept in.

He walked up the stairs carefully, hearing screams and gun shots coming from the upper levels of the building. Tony walked over to one of the people that he killed and picked up a gun. He held it for about twelve seconds before it melted in his hands.

“Fuck,” He cursed loudly, fire spurting from his hands at one of the walls. Tony scaled the stares two at a time, not feeling the strain as he normally would. He groaned when he felt he was being attacked from the side. Tony rolled and squared his stance, seeing Killian in a similar suit as he wore, eyes and neck glowing red.

“How?” He asked, running forward to punch at Tony. Tony ducked under his throw, then punching his stomach. Killian stumbled back, the glow taking over his body and singing the suit he wore. He ran forward and threw another punch at Tony, then kicking at Tony’s side. Tony dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way as Killian punched the ground, his fist leaving a large impression on the ground.

Tony pulled himself up, and swung for Killian’s exposed chest. He hit Killian, then pushed him away. One of the fireballs shot forward, pushing Killian back. Killian kneeled, then brought his hands forward, shooting a beam of fire at Tony who barely managed to dodge the beam. Tony rolled on the ground, got his footing and ran for the man.

Punches were exchanged, Tony flinching as Killian’s eyes glowed so bright, they were bleeding. Tony kicked at his legs, forcing him to the ground. Killian’s clothing was burning off as he grew angrier. Tony ducked under another beam and punched Killian in the chest with all the power he had.

He didn’t expect his hand to go through the man’s chest. Tony ripped his hand out of the man’s chest, flinching as the glow faded from his skin and Killian choked on his own blood, lungs not able to expand from the wound. The light faded from his eyes quickly, blood oozing out from his wounds that Tony gave him.

Tony backed away, looking at his own hands, watching as the gold glow faded to look like his normal tan skin.

He flinched when he heard a gunshot from behind him, not thinking as he felt the power shoot from his hands and to the people that were shooting.

He stopped when he heard a familiar squeal.

“Wade?” He asked, the glow still under his skin in case it was not safe.

“Holy shit,” Wade said, popping up from behind a metal beam, his mask wrapped around his face, blood creased across his eyes. Wade got up and began walking to him. Tony put his hands up, then dropped them to his sides.

“Stay away, Wade,” He told the man backing away from him.

“Stark!” He heard Steve shout. Tony turned so he could look at both of them as he backed away. He looked down at his hands, seeing the glow burned brighter. His eyes darted around as he saw Peter, in his suit, Thor, Clint, Natasha, Bucky and Bruce emerge from different points of the burning building.

“Don’t come any closer,” He said, flinching as the glow brightened and faded quickly.

“Tony, breathe,” Bruce instructed, walking forward slowly, hands to his sides. Tony looked at his friend, breath picking up. “Breathe with me, Tony,” He said, taking a deep breath in, his hands raising as he inhaled. Tony shook as he tried to breath steadily, letting his breath out slowly as Bruce lowered his hands.

They continued that for two minutes, Bruce slowly getting closer to Tony as the glow faded from his skin. Three minutes later, Bruce lifted his hand to put on Tony’s shoulder.

“Easy,” Bruce said when Tony flinched, talking a half step forward. Tony was frozen in fear as Bruce lowered his hand to the man’s shoulder. Tony watched as his hand came to his shoulder, and the scientist didn’t flinch.

“See?” He asked. Tony gulped, looking down at his hands, seeing they looked like normal skin. “It’ll be okay, Tony,” Bruce told him. “Let’s get you to New York, now.” He said, dropping his hand.

Tony seemed to deflate, the torture taking over his body, knees dropping from exhaustion and dehydration.

He felt hands grab his shoulders, then shifting as his head rolled down and darkness took him over.

*

Tony shot up when his eyes opened. He felt hands on his shoulders, a voice calling his name as he panicked.

“Anthony,” The voice said. Tony froze for a moment, then turned to look at green eyes.

“Loki,” He gasped. Tony looked down at the hands holding his shoulders. He took them into his own, inspecting them. “Did I hurt you?” He questioned, looking the god over. He sighed when Loki held him against his chest, the position awkward for the both of them as Tony had to lean onto the god and Loki had to half squat as he hugged the man.

“You are so lucky,” Loki told him, still holding him. “Mother saved your life by tricking you,” He whispered, petting Tony’s head.

“What do you mean?” Tony said, pulling away from the god, eyes fluttering closed as Loki kissed his brow.

“Doctor Banner said that the drug that was given to you would have killed you, your cells burning as you used your new abilities until you burned yourself until you died.” Loki explained, kissing Tony again.

“Killian would have died regardless of you killing him as his cells were burning faster than they could replace themselves.” Loki said. “Mother gave you a portion of the Apples that Asgardians are so protective over,” Loki pushed Tony back to lay on the bed. “It allowed the serum to not reject you.” Loki said. Tony nodded as he pulled the needle out of his arm and stood despite Loki trying to push him back on the bed.

“Loki,” Tony said, standing as he reached for the blanket to pull on his body. “What if I hurt the baby,” He said sadly. He didn’t hear Loki get closer to him.

“Thor told you I was adopted, yes?” Tony nodded. “Sit, I must tell you something,” He said, nodding to the bed. Tony hesitated, but sat and listened to the story of how Loki wasn’t an Asgardian but a Frost Giant.

“You will not be able to hurt the baby because you wouldn’t do that,” He said, “But if you are worried, then accept that the baby will be able to freeze the burn.” Loki smiled. He stood up and took a deep breath, trusting the human enough to not ridicule him as he dropped the illusion on his skin.

Tony gasped at the beauty of Loki in his blue skin, markings wrapping around his hands, neck and head. His hair was still black as night, but his eyes were a bright red that looked beautiful against the blue skin.

“Loki,” Tony said, stepping close to the god, cupping his chin. “You’re beautiful,” He furrowed his brow when Loki groaned, sounding in pain as he clenched his baby bump.

“The baby,” he said, gripping the table. “it’s coming,” He growled out. Tony froze for a moment, not expecting this at all. He picked up Loki and put him on the bed, then raced to the door and shouted at the top of his lungs,

“BRUCE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!


	14. Birth of a Baby

Bruce rushed into the medical room when he heard the moans of pain and curses. He stood shocked at the sight of Loki, blue skin with streaks running up his arms and face, black nails and red eyes.

“Bruce,” Tony said hurriedly, snapping the scientist out of his phase. Bruce ignored Tony for the god with the larger stomach protruding. Bruce put his hands on the baby bump, feeling around to see if it was flipped.

“Loki,” Bruce said, “The baby is not flipped around,” Bruce said, touching another area to make sure the child would surely be coming out the right way.

“I’ve given birth before,” Loki moaned in pain, fists grabbing the bars and bending them. “Just leave me be,” Loki whined.

Bruce was conflicted. One part told him that the god could do this, that he had four other children to prove that he knew what he was doing. On top of that, Bruce had no idea how alien birth was supposed to go or what happened. The other part of him was worried that the god could have complications and that he should be helping.

“Doctor,” Bruce heard Loki say through grit teeth. “I promise that I know what to do,”

“Loki,” Tony said, kneeling next to him. “At least let him stay so that if you need help, he can give it.” Tony begged. Loki looked back between his lover and the doctor. He arched as another contraction seized his body painfully.

“Fine,” Loki said. He looked at Tony, “Get me undressed.” Tony nodded his head and began pulling the clothing off of his lover, shirt then down to his pants.  Bruce grabbed a sheet to drape over Loki to keep him from getting cold as he sweated.

“The child wants to be born in this form,” Loki growled, mostly to his stomach and the child inside. Loki helped Tony kick his pants off and lifted his legs to bend at the knee. Tony was curious as to how the baby would be born. Loki had informed him that often, he would shift into a female form before delivery, his magic spiking and urging him to change and deliver it as a female.

But Loki looked like he had a vagina as well as a cock. A hermaphrodite would be the word he would describe it as. Tony blushed and covered the god the rest of the sheet, grimacing at the blood that was beginning to pool around his waist.

“Can I check your dilation?” Bruce asked. Loki growled at the pain, breathing deeply.

“No,” Loki said, “I can do this,” Bruce looked like he wanted to argue, but dropped it, knowing that agitating any pregnant person was bad, especially if they were in the birthing process.

Loki groaned and breathed deeply, curing in a language at random periods for about two hours when Thor came in.

Jarvis must have only called Bruce to the Medical Bay. Because when Thor came, everyone flocked behind him.

And then Loki panicked.

Thor looked confused when he first entered the room, then shouted with happiness in their language. Loki must have triggered when he saw the amount of people in the door and  piling into the room. He stood, magic sparking at his fingertips, blood slipping onto the floor as he cursed wildly.

He was holding his womb, more blood pilling from his canal as he stood, heartbeat elevating and pushing the contractions along faster, the baby kicking against his ribs.

Steve was trying to pull Thor out of the room, Clint pushing the others back as Loki began to throw sparks around the room. Tony tried to talk to Loki calmly, who was backing up and trying to protect Tony from Thor who was throwing Steve off him.

Wade and Peter held the children away from the medical room, telling them that their mother would be fine, hoping to convince them as well as themselves. Bruce was between the mess, feeling the Hulk beginning to panic as Thor threw Steve into one of the walls, creating a dome hole in it. Bruce growled, his skin greening a bit.

He walked up to Thor, who was turned around, everyone scrambling out of the way. Bruce pulled his fist back and punched Thor, sending him further back then he sent Steve. Wade and Peter covered the children with their bodies, ducking as Thor was sent rolling out of the medical room.

“Everyone get the hell out,” Bruce growled, his eyes tinged with green. Thor stood up, his hammer by his side. Steve walked over to Thor, Bucky nest to him and heaved the god away together. Wade and Peter brought the children to away from their mom, telling them that Loki would be okay.

Tony got Loki to calm down once his brother was punched out of the room. Blood was all over the floor as Tony lifted the god back on the bed, the sheet the Bruce put on him somehow stayed as if his magic didn’t want him exposed to his brother.

“He was going to take her,” Loki said, shaking as the panic wrapped around them.

“No he wasn’t,” Tony assured him. Tony brushed the god’s black hair back, gripping his hand tightly. “I need you to calm down, Loki,” Tony said quietly, “The baby is probably freaking out,” He muttered. “You need to relax so the baby can know she is safe,” He whispered.

It was the whispering that got Loki to calm down and the pain that grounded him to the situation he was in. Loki nodded to Tony, eyes bright with determination as he spread his legs again and began to push.

Tony stood next to Loki for five more hours, Bruce with him in case something went wrong as Loki pushed, cursed, shouted, cried and pushed some more.

Loki, at one point, looked like he was about to give up. His magic was tingling around the room, icing it down to cool temperatures and sparking before a large contraction would come. Tony could see the desperation in his eyes and became one of the best coaches he could be. He told Loki about how he survived worse, about how Hel would love to have a little sister, about how Loki wanted the child.

The speech seemed to work, because thirty-seven minutes later, a cry was heard and Loki stopped panting. Tony and Bruce walked to Loki’s legs, stepping in the dried blood from Thor’s fiasco and pulled the sheet back.

A human looking baby cried, the umbilical cord still attached. Bruce rolled his eyes at Tony’s stunned expression. Bruce cut the cord as Loki pushed the rest of the fluid from his body, taking a sample of what he assumed was placenta to test, making sure that the child would be healthy by human standards. Bruce wrapped the baby in a white blanket and handed it to Loki.

Tony smiled at Loki’s exuberant expression at holding his child. He lifted his hand, summoning his magic and wrapped it around himself, changing his appearance back to his human one, cleaning the rest of the blood from the room and his child.

He bounced the baby until she stopped crying, opening her eyes for the first time.

“Hello, Fae,” He said to the brown eyed baby. Tony wiped one of the tears away from his eye as he sat next to Loki. Loki looked over to Tony then extended his arms, Fae in his hands. Tony swallowed thickly as his took the small baby in his hands.

“She’s beautiful,” Tony said hoarsely as he cradled the quiet baby.

“That’s your father, Fae,” Loki whispered to the baby, eyes on Tony. Tony choked on his tears of joy as he held the baby.

An hour passed as the mother and father coddled the child. Bruce walking in to make Loki and Tony hand over the baby so she could be weighed and measured. She was a little small by human standards, but Bruce figured it was a god thing. Loki’s other children came in carefully, silently.

Fae was sleeping on Loki’s chest. The children circled around the bed, Fenrir was the calmest that Tony had ever seen him, Hel smiling more than Tony witnessed, Sleipnir tilted his head in a curious way that made him look a little like a horse, Jor smiling softly as the baby kicked in her blankets, turning closer to Loki’s exposed chest.

The children stayed in the room until Loki feel asleep. Tony squeezed Loki’s shoulder, feeling sorry when he waked Loki to put the children to sleep. Loki kissed each one of them on the forehead after whispering something softly to them.

Fae cried out, kicking at the blanket.

“She’s hungry,” Loki said.

“How does that work?” Tony asked, feeling a bit awkward. Loki smirked at Tony. He dropped the illusion, his Frost Giant form coming back. He shifted the child to his teat, the child sucking the milk from him. “Well,” Tony said, reaching his hand to rub the back of his hair. Loki chuckled.

Fae seemed to be done feeding from Loki, burping then falling back to sleep. Loki changed back to his pale skin and stood up.

“Wait, you gave birth hours ago,” Tony said, trying to push the god back down. Loki rolled his eyes, showing off a bit of strength as he pushed Tony’s arm away.

“I want to eat, relieve myself then sleep for days,” Loki said happily. Tony seemed hesitant, but caved when Loki walked out of the room.

The other Avengers were scattered around the kitchen, Thor nursing a bruise on the side of his face with a pack of ice. They stood silently when Loki and Tony walked in. Very slowly, they made their way close to the mother and the father, newborn in their arms.

Smiles broke on all their faces, hush whispers congratulating the couple of their child. Thor was even quiet, apologizing to his brother for making his brother panic. Loki rolled his eyes, forgiving his brother. Tony made a bagel for Loki spreading cream cheese on it before handing it to the god.

Loki ate the bagel, handing Fae off to Tony as he ate, watching the others carefully to make sure that nothing would happen to his baby. He relaxed once he realized that no one would hurt his child, in fact, they would do everything to protect the baby.

The three of them retired, putting Fae in the bed after feeding for a second time. Loki and Tony spooned for the first time comfortably since the baby bump got larger.

*

Frigga landed on the top of the Avengers tower quietly. The Bifrost closed as she strode into the tower.

“Your Highness,” Jarvis said, the Queen smiled, nodding once at the voice that ran the tower. “They should wake in an hour,” Jarvis said, “predicting the baby’s feeding patterns,”

“I can wait, Sir Jarvis,” The queen said, taking a seat at one of the chairs, having a perfect view of the city as she waited for her son and grandchild to come out.

“Grandmother,” A voice said from behind her, startling the Queen a bit. It was Hel, looking at the Queen dangerously. Frigga knew that Hel was the least likely to trust Asgard and its rulers ever again. “I won’t let you take her,” Hel stated.

“I am not going to take them,” Frigga said. Hel cocked her head, walking to face the Queen. Her hair, the two colors glowing with her power.

“You never took me and my brothers,” Hel said, her bicolored eyes glowing brighter, “but you never stopped grandfather,” She stated. “I don’t trust you,” Frigga sighed at her grand daughters statement.

Frigga reached her hand out to touch the teen. Hel took a step back, rejecting the comfort.

“I know that my past actions do not go hand in hand with my current ones, but I am honest,” Frigga told her. Hel looked at her grandmother for another minute, then walked away.

*

Tony woke before Loki, walking to the cradle stroking Fae’s peach fuzz. She turned a bit in her sleep to go to Tony’s hand.

“Jarvis,” Tony whispered, “set up a fund for all the children, bank accounts, files of citizenship, college funds, bonds, the works,” He said.

“Sir,” Jarvis said, “Director Fury has retired,” Tony smirked at the floor, nodding his head. “Agent Coulson has been appointed the new Director of SHIELD.”

“Good,” Tony said. Loki woke, getting up from the bed to look at his child. “put the funds and assets back in SHIELD,” Tony said. He turned and kissed the god deeply. Fae cried out, starting the cockblocking phase of their relationship. Tony laughed when Loki picked up his baby, putting her mouth to his teat.

Fae finished eating then going back to sleep.

“Sir,” Jarvis said, “the Queen is in the living room,” Tony flopped his arms as he sighed in frustration. Loki took his hand in Tony’s, walking to the other children’s room, finding them awake and happy to greet their new baby sister.

The family walked into the living room, greeting the queen kindly. Loki passed off Fae to Tony, walking to his mother, hugging her. The three boys then ran to their grand mother, hugging her, Hel staying by Tony and her sister. Hel and Frigga shared a look, then walked over to Tony.

“She is beautiful,” Frigga said looking at the child. Fae pinched her eyes together and turned deeper in the blanket she was wrapped in. Loki, who was standing behind Frigga, nodded to Tony to pass his daughter off to the Queen. Carefully, Tony handed Fae over to the Queen.

Hel’s eyes flashed dangerously when Tony passed her over, gaze directed to the Queen, but made no move to attack. Frigga rocked the child in her arm, murmuring in soft tones to the baby, gold magic wrapping around her.

“No harm shall come to her, my son,” Frigga said. Loki smiled brightly, moving closer to his mother to look over at his child.

“Anthony, your core has changed,” Frigga said when Fae shouted for Loki to feed her. Loki took the baby back and made his way back into their room to feed her privately.

Tony nodded once, looking down at his hands and calling forth the Extremis energy. Frigga came closer to him, her own magic wrapped around her hands. She took one of his palms and closed her eyes.

“So the apple worked,” Frigga said, opening her eyes with a smirk on her lips.

“I figured I would be drugged by the fruit sooner or later,” Tony replied. “But what do you mean?” Frigga let go of her hands, Tony’s flames already quelled.

“I wanted you to be healthy, to see my grandchildren grow old and happy,” She said. “I want to see that Loki is happy with you and his children,” She said. “I knew that you would need an apple to do that so I gave you one.” She turned her head and looked out the window, New York cloudy and raining lightly. “It seems that the apple saved your life with whatever was given to you,”

“Thank you,” Tony said, “I guess,” He shrugged once. Loki returned Hel not with him and passed his newborn off to her again.

Loki’s eyes began to droop, his head bobbing from exhaustion when Frigga took her leave. Thor gave a quick hello and goodbye to his mother, the family watching them leave.

“I think this family needs a nap,” Tony yawned. Loki simply nodded, walking back to the room and putting Fae in her crib.

“See,” Tony said, snuggling close to the god’s chest, “I said that you would be okay,”


	15. Happy Ever After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final instalment! I love you all!

Fae was not a shy baby. The Avengers laughed when she wanted to be picked up or fed. If her brothers were bothering her, she would shout at them in her baby way.

The humans thought that her rapid growth was odd. On the day she was born, she would do nothing more than eat and sleep. But within a week, Fae was grabbing things, rolling, playing with her feet. By the close of her second week of life, Fae was sitting upright and crawling.

Her brown hair looked a lot like Tony’s, thick like his, but wavy instead of spiked. Each of the Avengers took turns babysitting Fae. Clint would put her in the vents and let her crawl around in her Iron Man onesie, gently pushing her away from places she would get hurt.

Bucky was very careful with Fae. When she got tired, she would crawl up whichever arm was closest to her and snuggle. Steve helped her color in books that he and Bucky had gotten her. Natasha was content on simply holding her. She would watch Bruce do science in a tiny coat that Tony made for her (many pictures were taken) until she got bored and started demanding something more stimulating.

Her siblings went on all sorts of adventures with her. She would crawl on Sleipnir’s back and ride him, Sleipnir being very careful to not jostle his baby sister. Fae would hold on and giggle, her face in his mane as he walked around the Tower. Jor, in his snake form, would coil in from hooks that were in the Tower to hold things like lamps or paintings and bring Fae up to swing gently like a hammock until she fell asleep.

Fenrir was her play buddy. Fenrir would roll Fae over and give her wolf kisses until she shouted at him. He would back off and dance from side to side, tail wagging. Fae would crawl over to him and headbutt his side. Fenrir would collapse on the ground, belly up as Fae climbed on top of his side. Fae one time made the mistake of biting his fur. She cried, Loki and Tony rushing to her, both laughing as they pulled the hairs from her mouth.

It was week three and Fae stood up for the first time.

Jarvis was recording even thought the others were all taking pictures at Fae as she put her foot forward, stumbling in the way babies do, before plopping her butt down. Hel, who was, according to Tony, Fae’s bodyguard, walked over to her baby sister and pushed her butt up so she could walk to her mother and father. Fae never shouted at Hel.

Fae stood up with the help of Hel and took another step forward. She slowly made her way over to her mother and father, hands outstretched as she came over to them. Tony and Loki scooped Fae into their arms, hugging her tightly and praising her as the others clapped. Fae giggled loudly, a bright, gummy smile on her face.

And then her hair brightened. As she laughed and the others quieted, Fae’s hair glowed from the crown and her brown hair changed to a bright, sunflower yellow color. She laughed louder and louder, her hair glowing brighter around her, forming a sort of halo. When her giggles finally died down, her hair slowly turned back to its usual shade of brown.

“She’s a chameleon,” Clint whispered when she calmly rested her check on her mother’s bony chest.

“A what?” Loki hissed, thinking that Clint insulted his youngest child. Clint raised his hand, looking at Tony to help him out. Tony squeezed Loki’s hip, getting the god’s attention.

“A chameleon is a type of animal that changes its color with its mood,” He explained. Loki calmed a bit at that, putting Fae down when she wiggled and pointed to the floor. Loki’s other kids, all in their human forms, surrounded the baby and tried to make her giggle by making funny faces or tickling her.

Her hair became highlighted with gold blonde hair when she giggled, slowly taking over the color of her hair the more she laughed.

And so began experimentation.

When she was hungry, her hair would change to a purple color. She was eating mushy foods now, too mature by god standards to be breastfeeding. Fae loved mashed peaches and apples. She recognized where the jars of baby food were kept.

“You need to eat more than peaches and apples,” Loki chastised from behind the counter, looking back at the baby in Spiderman onesie. He picked up the jar that had Turkey meat in it. Loki looked up when he heard the door open, magic coming to his fingers. He relaxed when he saw Phil stumble into the kitchen. Loki was still paranoid at times, thinking that someone would steal his child from him.

“Phil,” Loki greeted the tired man. Phil tipped his head and rubbed Fae’s hair. Fae giggled at the Director, her hair streaking gold. Phil’s eyes widened for a moment, then rolled them. While Fae and Phil had their little bonding moment, Loki popped the lid and put a bit of food on the spoon.

Fae, trusting as a baby was, opened her mouth for her mother, watching Phil go to the pantry. It was comical, watching Fae’s face pinch in disgust when she realized this was not the peaches and apples she liked. Fae’s hair changed to a green as she spat the food out on her booster seat. Loki gave the baby a tired glare, knowing that it was going to be a long feeding time for the both of them.

Phil was intrigued. He had been watching SuperNanny in the background of being Director of SHIELD and going on missions with his team. He smirked to himself as Loki tried to feed the baby another scoop of the food, her face pinching in disgust, pulling from the god. Her hair became a darker shade of green, small amounts of copper coming from her brow as she got angrier with her mother.

“You are going to eat this eventually,” Loki said, putting the spoon down in the jar, not wanting to waste it.

Fae began to cry, her changing from green to dark blue as her face pinched together. Phil stepped back, watching as Tony rushed in and took the situation in.

“Loki, feed her the peaches and apples,” He chastised. Fae’s hair brightened for a moment at seeing her father but darkened when Loki lifted the spoon, tears still pouring from her eyes.

“She is going to learn from an early age that she cannot manipulate us,” Loki stated, riding out her tears. “She will eat what is put in front of her.”

“But she is crying,” Tony said, stepping closer to Fae, running his fingers through her short hair. Phil snickered, thinking that SuperNanny had an episode like this every other showing.

“She is,” Loki said quietly to Tony, “but she will tire and then eat.”

Phil was fascinated by the show, but to see it in person was something else. Wade walked in next to him, holding a bucket of popcorn like he knew this was happening and held it out for Phil to take as they both watched.

“Got to eat what mama gives you, chameleon,” Wade said between bites. Fae must not have noticed the newcomer as she cried, fat tears dripping down her cheeks. “Mama Tony, she’s going to look at you in a moment with such puppy eyes,” Wade predicted. “resist it.”

Sure enough, Fae turned her face to Tony, her brown eyes red from crying, tears falling down her cheeks and chin, lip pouting, blue hair adding to the effect.

“Shit,” Tony said.

“Resist her manipulation, love,” Loki said from his spot, watching his lover slowly crack under Fae’s eyes. Wade and Phil snickered, watching as Tony clenched his fists as if resisting Fae was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. Loki could see that Tony was going to crack, but Fae cracked first. She sighed, looking back at her mom and opening her mouth for the food.

Tony seemed to deflate too.

“That wasn’t easy,” Tony said watching Fae’s hair change back to a lighter shade of green as she ate. Loki laughed at him, Wade giving the god thumbs up and Phil just smiling.

“It’ll get easier as she learns she can’t manipulate you,” Loki said, putting another scoop into her mouth. The more Fae ate, the less her hair was green. It began changing back to her brown colored hair as she ate more of it.

“I think we need to switch up her diet,” Tony said, opening the baby food drawer. “Peaches and Apples for when she is good,” Loki nodded his head in agreement. Fae was normally a clean eater, for a baby, but she was very dirty right now. Tony picked up a washcloth, running the food off her face, then her tears. Loki picked her up when she was all cleaned and looked at her.

“You were a very good baby when you chose to eat what I gave you,” Loki said, kissing her on the forehead. Tony ruffled her hair, kissing her on the cheek. Fae giggled, her hair roots becoming sunshine colored. Her eyes drooped, head flopping on Loki’s chest, tired from crying.

Loki and Tony silently agreed to put Fae down in her nursery for a nap, Loki putting a bubble of magic around her so it would alert him when she would wake. As they turned, Hel walked into the room, hugging each parent and sat down in one of the chairs to watch her sister sleep, a sketch pad in her hand.

Tony and Loki walked out of the room before the god spoke up,

“We haven’t tapped into your Extremis,” Tony rolled his eyes, pulling the god’s hips to his, kissing him gently. “No, Tony,” Loki said, his own hands resting on Tony’s hips. “I need to teach you how to use Extremis,”

“But you are a Frost Giant,” Tony pouted to the god.

“I am also the god of Fire, now come,” Loki pulled Tony along, who only complained marginally.

*

Thor returned the next morning. He told the Avengers that he would be searching for the perfect gift to give to Fae. The Avengers and Family were in the family room, Fae sitting on the floor, clapping her hands at her family surrounding her.

Thor silently brought in a large box that had its flaps pulled apart slightly so Fae could pull them apart. Fae’s hair laced with grey, confusion, as she crawled to the box. It took her a couple of times to pull the flap apart, her hair becoming slightly red with her frustration. When she pulled the flaps apart, she smiled when she saw the bear.

She pulled the bear out of the box, others cooing at her, Thor smiling proudly, as she pulled it on her.

Then Fae tossed the bear to the side and she crawled inside the box, her hair bright yellow as she pulled the flaps closed. There was a moment of silence from the adults, then boisterous laughter as they watched Fae crawl out of the box and tip it over herself, crawling on the floor and dragging her cardboard fort with her.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” Tony laughed, patting a stunned Thor on the back as they listened to Fae squeal happily.

*

Tony pulled each of Loki’s children to the side to talk to them within the next week. The conversations lasted no more than fifteen minutes’ tops, but each one of those minutes was important to the human.

Fae had said her first word in that week: Mama, as expected. Da followed the next day, causing Tony to erupt in tears as he took Fae into his arms and bounced her around. It certainly lowered his anxiety.

Tony passed the god, seeing him outside, looking at the city he was forced to destroy. He was wearing black jeans, a grey sweater and smiling despite the snow falling on the ground. _Now,_ he thought. Tony walked to his room and picked up the object that had given him such anxiety over the past week.

He walked outside, the cold no longer bothering him since Extremis. He walked quietly next to Loki, taking his hand and looked at the city, the people in the street, watching as the New Year’s ball got closer to the base.

“You celebrate a new year with such joy,” Loki said with a smile, looking at one of the buildings, seeing there were only five minutes until the ball dropped. Tony smiled at Loki, turning him to face the man. The glow of his reactor brightened the space between the two of them, the New Year’s Eve ball brightening the sides of their faces.

“Loki,” Tony said, reaching into his pocket and holding the velvet box tightly, his heart pounding in his chest. “You have changed my life in ways that I would never imagine.” He said. “You fill each day with joy, your kids give me such happiness that I feel my heart will burst. I am happy for the reactor because there is so much love that I have for them fills my first heart,” He said. Tony lifted Loki’s hand and put it to his reactor,

“But this one, this heart, is filled with nothing but my love for you,” Tony took a deep breath, pulling the box out of his pocket and dropped to his one knee, kneeling before the god. Loki put hands to his lips, his eyes watering, smile shaking behind his hands.

“Loki, my Prince, my heart,” He opened the box, “will you marry me?” Loki was silent for a moment, but he pulled his hands away from his mouth.

“Yes!” He shouted. Tony slid the ring on his finger, a gold band with two diamonds on each side bracketing a larger diamond in the center. Loki pulled Tony up and kissed him deeply, a bright white flash burst from the side of them as the New Year’s ball dropped. Tony pulled from Loki’s lips and shared a look of complete love. They both turned to look at the city and shared expressions of shock

Time Square had high def cameras pointed at the two of them their faces on every building as the ball dropped. Relapses of the kiss played on smaller screens played. The city was going crazy with more than New Year cheer; they were cheering for the god and the king.

Tony looked to the stage when one of the pictures changed showing Panic! At the Disco. They sang _Death of a Bachelor._ Tony laughed, Loki still stunned, and he pulled Loki into a kiss, listening to the crowd cheer and shout for them. Loki pulled away with a smile, before grabbing Tony by the roots of his hair and kissing him deeply, forcing Tony to hold onto the glass railing as his mouth was claimed.

When Loki pulled his lips pull from Tony so he could breathe, the man pumped his fist into the air proudly, causing a new wave of cheers from the crowd.

“I love you, Anthony,” Loki said softly, both of them smiling more than they ever have.

“I love you too,” Tony and Loki both slowly kissed, the lights illuminating their happiness, showing their happy ever after.

At the expense of the death of a bachelor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for being with me. I love each and every one of you. You've made this such a fun story to write. Oh, this was great. I hope you have a great life. I'm not sure if I'll be back, but if I do return, I hope you will be with me. Oh, this was amazing. I owe you so much! Love you!


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